The Botanist – Unique Cocktails | Review

*AD – the drinks in this review was gifted to our household for this post. All opinions, as always, are our own.

While in Reading, we ended up at the bar of The Botanist, through a slight mix up. Normally, a mix up is never the best situation, but as it happens, The Botanist is a wonderful venue with very unique and tasty drinks, which we were very excited to try. After our Day Out in London Bridge, finding ourselves with a couple of rounds of interesting drinks to taste sounded like a surprisingly great way to end our day.

We took the time to try a handful of the most unique and interesting cocktails on the menu and Dann tried a beer type he had not had before. These cocktails not only tasted delicious but also came in a variety of strange and intriguing glasses! We drank our drinks in rounds, so see the captions of pictures to know what drink goes with what name.

The Botanist (the drink)

A drink named after the place that we were drinking in has to be something that we try. Coming in a large test tube-looking glass, this drink contained Bacardi Carta Blanca rum, Ketel One vodka, St. Germain, jasmine syrup, red amaranth, fresh mint, lime juice and lemonade. This drink looked impressive and tasted much like a fancy mohito as it’s heavy on the mint and lime, but has nice notes of jasmine.

Raspberry Disaronno Sour

Jupiter’s absolute favourite drink came in a flower pot, which was pretty interesting in itself! A show piece, the drink itself sits under a mound of ice, with flowers and herbs sticking out. There also is a test tube, full of dry ice, that the bartender pours a bit of water over, creating a wave of fog pouring out of the drink. The drink itself contained Disaronno, raspberry liqueur, raspberry puree, pomegranate and lemon juice. There is also almonds somewhere in the drunk, though it wasn’t overwhelming. Mostly, this flower pot concoction tasted sweet and fruity – very easy to drink and delicious to boot.

Bartender’s Special

One of the first drinks that Jupiter ordered was through asking the bartender what he liked to drink. The bar staff was very friendly and great at making all of these impressive drinks, so he made a drink that he described as being a bit flower-y but tasting of sorbet. We aren’t really sure what was in it, but it was a tasty drink and the bartenders did take into account that she like sweet drinks, as this was sweet!

Mango and Plum Cooler 

The Mango and Plum Cooler contained Ketel One Citroen vodka, plum and uzu sake, mango syrup, apple juice and lemon juice, topped with lemonade and a lychee and plum foam. The drink tasted very sweet and fruity, while also being refreshing. As the Ketel One doesn’t have much tang or much of a vodka taste, the softer fruit flavours were able to shine through the alcohol. The foam was delicious and abundant on top of the drink.

Miracle Bulb

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The Miracle Bulb is definitely a show piece, containing empress 1908 gin, yuzu sake, apple liqueur, jasmine syrup, apple juice and a bit of lemonade. This comes as a glass inside of a glass, with the outer glass being mainly smoke. To make this drink, you basically pour the purple liquid into a glass before pouring in the clear liquid and smoke into the glass – providing for an interactive experience. The taste itself wasn’t enhanced at all by the smoke, which seems to just be for show. This drink didn’t taste fruity, but was a mild, tart drink that’s more fun to pour than to drink.

Pineapple Mezcalita

The Pineapple Mezcalita contained Amores Verde Mezcal, El Jimador tequila, Licor 43, vanilla syrup, pineapple juice and lemon juice. Mezcal and tequila often both have strong flavours that are hard to build around – with that said, mixing that with both pineapple and lemon, which are also strong flavours, is a bold choice. This makes for a nicely mixed drink with a variety of strong, balanced flavours that we both did enjoy.

Our experience at The Botanist, though a bit of a mix up, turned out to be a very fun one. The staff clearly loved their jobs and enjoyed making these wonderful and unique cocktails. It’s one of those bars that are just a bit different – we look forward to going back and trying the food as well.

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