Page 8 - Drinks JournalVol2_Neat
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Iolanthe’s Lantern 11.50
Apricot Infused Hayman’s Old Tom
Amontillado sherry
Crème de Apricot
Peach bitters
Dry/Tart/Strong
I am still beset by fairies! Realising my prize rhubarb is off limits, the little pests are
now stealing another of my crops - this time my much admired Apricots.
As all good botanists will know, fairies are terrified of the sun and bright lights so with
this in mind and in a bid to deter them from terrorising my orchards, I have enlisted one
of the brightest physicists of our age, Mr Joseph Swan. Mr Swan is to make a magical
lantern brighter than any candle. Swan has outdone himself with an incandescent bulb
running off this invisible force he names electricity.
With my crops safe, Swan has asked if he can showcase his invention to one Richard
D’Oyly Carte. D’Oyly Carte arrives with two young playwrights named Arthur Sullivan
and W.S Gilbert who promptly ignore the wonder of incandescent lights and start chasing
the fairies around the orchards.
I later hear that D’Oyly Carte has premièred a new opera in his newly lit Savoy theatre.
It appears our playwrights have produced an opera named ‘Iolanthe’ after one of our
fairies. His cast’s wings are lit with tiny bulbs with battery packs behind their hair
pieces. The play is the talk of the town and the miniature lanterns have been named
‘fairy lights’. .
Inspiration - Iolanthe, A comic opera - Gilbert & Sullivan (1882)
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