Edgbaston Boutique Hotel and El Dorado Rum team up to make cricket-themed cocktails

The cocktail menu, created by bar manager, Luke Pearson and the team at The Edgbaston was devised as part of their regular Friday sessions, known as the Friday Night Project - a concept originating from Noma in Copenhagen.

Every Friday night, members of the team present a cocktail that they they’ve been working on to their colleagues in the hopes of exciting them by using forward-thinking techniques and flavours and getting their cocktail chosen for special menus.

The menu will go live from August 16 to August 21 to coincide with the first ever day/night Test Match to be played on English soil. The match will take place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground from August 17 to 21.

The special menu offers drinks including El Dorado 12 Year Old Rum, including names such as White Men Can't Stump, The Essequibo River Punch, Daisy Cutter and the Legend of the Golden man.

In addition to offering the cocktail menu, Dean MacGregor, El Dorado Brand Ambassador will be hosting a rum masterclass for both customers of The Edgbaston and the bar team in advance of the first test.

MacGregor says: “Cricket and rum are two things that the Guyanese community are passionate about, so it made sense to combine the two for the tour of the West Indies.

“The Edgbaston was our first choice because it’s undoubtedly one of the best bars in the city and they are making some cracking drinks. The menu that they’ve created for the activity is just outstanding with some real innovative touches.”

Luke Pearson says: “The team and I pride ourselves on creating innovative menus and making great tasting drinks, so when we started talking to El Dorado about hosting some activity for the forthcoming cricket, we were happy to take part – particularly as the El Dorado range is such an excellent range to make drinks with.

"The Edgbaston is currently championing a cocktail menu which celebrates Birmingham. There are 36 cocktails and every cocktail has a connection to the people, places and inventions of the city. The cocktails made with El Dorado seemed like a natural fit with this activity, especially as the ground is just a stone’s throw from the hotel and a number of the cricket fraternity like to stay with us when a game is on.

“At the hotel we are lucky to have a whole host of tools for our award winning team to use and create truly bespoke drinks and ingredients. The star of the show is a rotary evaporator commonly known as 'Roxanne'. She allows us to boil liquids at room temperature and distil the most delicate of flavours without damaging them. This allows us to create our own gins, create reductions without heating them and even distil flowers such as marigolds which are grown locally and have a fragrant mandarin flavour as showcased in the "Bowled Over" cocktail alongside El Dorado 12, Honey and Hay.

“At the heart of what we do is genuine passion and enthusiasm for creating drinks with meaning, a sense of place and above all a level of satisfaction upon consumption."