Up up and away – Schweppes Flavour Adventure on the London Eye

The other day I went on a journey through time, taste, and gazed upon London capitals spectacular backdrop all whilst sipping on my cocktail or two made using Schweppes.

This popped up event called Schweppes Flavour Adventure popped up at the Coca-Cola London Eye to celebrate London Cocktail Week, which runs from 3 – 7 October.

This experience was complimented to me by Katie of whatskatiedoing and Schweppes.

Schweppes

Firstly let me tell you a bit about Schweppes and how they started out.

Back in 1783 Jacob Schweppe invented the world’s first soft drink after a 10 year experiment to capture and bottle bubbles. His Schweppe’s Soda Water was an immediate success and was endorsed by leading doctors and sold (mainly in pharmacies) as a treatment for a variety of ailments.  Overtime it eventually became a household tonic and mixer to pair with alcohol.

To this day Schweppes has grown from strength to strength and introducing new tonics every so often to it’s collection .

Coca-Cola London Eye

Back in 2000 the London Eye popped up which was designed by Marks Barfield Architects.

At 135m, Coca-Cola London Eye is the world’s largest cantilevered observation wheel.

Since popping up it has won over 85 awards for national and international tourism, outstanding architectural quality and engineering achievement. In fact, it has become the UK’s most popular paid for visitor attraction.

Did you know though it originally was intended as a temporary structure for just five years. But with millions boarding it every year, its popularity has prompted it’s lease to be extended. Today it is a permanent fixture on the London skyline and a beautiful symbol of modern London.

Schweppes Flavour Adventure

Upon meeting Katie and some other bloggers we all was greeted by our guide who will be taking us on a 60 minute journey exploring all there is to know about Schweppes.  We were each given a booklet and a ticket to allow us entry to London Cocktail Village in Brick Lane.

Up, Up and away for a Schweppes Masterclass

We then went up, up and away up the stairs to London Eye’s VIP Lounge for 30 minutes in which we sampled seven different enchanting tonics by Schweppes 1783 collection from new ones to some old classics followed on by a pairing for each from Gin to Whiskey.

Crisp Tonic Water
Paired with Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin

By itself this tonic is pure and clean in taste with a slight bitterness.  When paired with the Gin it gave this tonic a sharper bitter taste.

Light Tonic Water
Paired with The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

This is a light sparkly tonic water with a hint of bitterness and sweet.  When paired with the Gin it just tasted like Gin.

Quenching Cucumber Tonic Water
Paired with Grey Goose Premium Vodka

A sparkling tonic with a refreshing cucumber flavour seeping through making it a very refreshing and cleanses the palette.  I could drink this tonic all day long.  When paired with the vodka which is one of my favourite spirits really gave it a new edge still tasting fresh though.

Salty Lemon Tonic Water
Paired with Jose Cuervo Reposado

This tonic has notes of a salt along with citrusy notes and even a hint of aniseed.  When paired with the Cuervo it cut away the saltness and gave the drink a whole new refreshing tone.

Golden Ginger Ale
Paired with The Kraken Spiced Rum

This tonic on it’s own certainly is a silky, clean, refreshing and has a kick of ginger spice making it a great tonic on it’s own for any ginger lovers.  When paired with the Rum it gave this ginger ale a kick of heat and spiciness.

Muscovado Dark Spirit Mixer
Paired with Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

With it’s hints of smooth caramel and light vanilla tones hitting the taste buds certainly gave this tonic a luscious, refined finish. It was like drinking a strong caramel dessert with it’s sugary sweetness.  When paired with the Whiskey it gave it that extra heat.

After the tasting session of all seven Scweppes pairings it was now time to go up, up and away on the London Eye.  However firstly we each had to choose one of the three cocktails we would like to enjoy whilst up in the London Eye.

I chose An Eye for An Adventure.  I loved the hint of lemon juice that hit my palette when drinking this light tonic which had been paired with Arbikie Kirsty’s Gin however the highlight for me about this drink was that it came served with cherry popping candy, explosive! I just love popping candy.

Up, Up and away on the London Eye

It was then time to don on a hat which we was given to wear on our journey before carrying on to the Coca-Cola London Eye for our 30 minute ride in which we discovered and learnt about the famous landmarks in London, some of which have a taste of Schweppes history behind them.

Can you solve the questions from the clues in this photo.

Time for my drink.

Plus a snap shot of the surroundings and a selfie or two.

Back to earth

I had a fizzing time with Schweppes and Katie and Co. we all learnt so much more about Schweppes and tasted tonics that we had never had before.  My favourite is the Muscovado Dark Spirit Mixer as I loved the caramel flavour that oozed through plus I loved the Quenching Cucumber Tonic Water as really did refresh the palette.

It would be nice to see Schweppes do other unique masterclass pop ups throughout the year as I certainly would return to one as the whole flavour adventure was a wonderful experience.

Discover more

Discover more about events which are popping up in relation to London Cocktail Week by clicking here.