Alice Lascelles

The island’s drinks are making waves way beyond its shores

Our drinks columnist sniffs out the best boozy fragrances

As the winners are announced, HTSI’s drinks columnist shares her report from behind the scenes at The Leafies awards

Nine creatives on the cups they love 

Introducing the new dives to know 

Ben Branson, the man behind Seedlip, thinks he may have cracked it

The HTSI’s drinks columnist has written the ultimate guide to the world’s most debated drink

Once overlooked, the Loire region is now a fulcrum of radical winemaking

Cultivate them in a box kit and fry them up. But the real magic is in their sculptural, surreal and slightly creepy beauty

What’s the buzz on this summer’s hottest condiment?

Raise un verre to the mixologists drawing on drinks from around the nation for their creations

Move over, Margarita. This summer’s tequila cocktail is the Paloma: a long, cool glass of tequila, grapefruit soda, lime, salt and ice. No shaker required. “The Paloma is a truly Mexican cocktail because of its simplicity and flavour – it’s 100 per cent more Mexican than the Margarita,” says José Luis León, head bartender of Licorería Limantour in Mexico City. “It’s easy to prepare, easy to drink and good for a sunny day.” The Paloma was popularised by La Capilla, a spit-and-sawdust bar in Jal…

The 1990s alcopop is making a comeback – or so claim the makers of Reef, the vodka-and-tropical juice brand that recently returned to the market after a 20-year hiatus. I drank alcopops the first time around, so I’m not celebrating, particularly when there are better bottled cocktails I could be drinking. Those by London’s Tayēr + Elementary are still top of the class – its new Yuzu Gimlet is made with Japanese Roku gin, fino sherry, yuzu and bittersweet Muyu Chinotto Nero liqueur (£35 for 30cl…

I first set eyes on Sotheby’s honorary chairman of wine, Serena Sutcliffe MW, at a tasting in 2013. She swept into a room full of dreary suits sporting a shocking-pink leather biker jacket and a razor-sharp white bob. I remember thinking: if this is what fine wine looks like, then I’m in. “Oh gosh! I’ve still got that jacket! I usually just plonk it over some jeans,” laughs the 78-year-old when we meet at the Sotheby’s HQ on London’s New Bond Street. She’s here to host the launch of a new serie…

Africa’s drinks scene is in the ascendant – that was plain to anyone attending the continent’s first international cocktail and spirits festival, Ajabu, which took place in Johannesburg and Cape Town in March. The week-long programme of masterclasses, bar takeovers and pop-ups attracted an international roster of speakers and showcased a new generation of bartenders. Headline acts included Kojo Aidoo of Accra members’ bar Front/Back, and Richie Barrow of Nairobi’s Hero Bar, which uses ingredient…

The best mushroom-infused beers, tea and cocktails

There are few bigger highs for a whisky lover than flying into Islay on a clear day and looking down at the rugged coastline, studded with whitewashed distilleries marked with their names in huge black letters: Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Port Ellen. It’s a view that can’t have changed much in nearly 100 years, but from this month it will look a little different – because Port Ellen, which has lain silent since 1983, has now been resurrected. Port Ellen is perhaps the most feted of all the “g…

It’s 3.30pm on a Tuesday afternoon and The Devonshire pub in Soho is a riot – every nook and cranny is packed with cheery people sipping Guinness and drinking wine. Upstairs in the first-floor restaurant, late-lunchers are feasting on steak, chips and claret, warmed by a roaring wood-fired grill. If you want to eat here then expect to eat late – because getting a table’s a nightmare. Virtually every service has been fully booked since The Devonshire opened in November. It’s a fine pub, to be su…

I used to scoff at the idea of low-alcohol wines. If I can’t drink the proper stuff, I’d say, I’d rather not drink at all. But worsening hangovers – particularly after wine – have forced me to roll back a little. That percentage on the label is no longer just a technical question – it’s increasingly one of survival. There are, of course, some styles that are naturally low in strength – some German Rieslings, for example, are just 8 per cent abv (but as a consequence they tend to be quite sweet)…

Roses are everywhere this season – not just on the catwalk but in, and on, drinks too. To mark the launch of its 2014 Rosé, Rare Champagne has commissioned French artist William Amor to create a limited-edition bottle adorned with a delicate rose made from upcycled plastic. At his atelier in Paris, Amor has made a name for himself “ennobling discarded materials” – other maisons to have featured his floral works include Balenciaga, Balmain and Guerlain. Amor’s inspiration for the Rare bottle was…