With its entrancingly golden hue and blood-red rose garnish – not to mention so much dra-mah! – we had to include this one in ‘The Colour Issue‘. That the ‘Belle’s Rose‘ by Storyville is inspired by the romance of Beauty and the Beast, only adds another layer to this cocktail’s appropriateness for a wedding menu.

They serve the drink cloaked in cherrywood smoke (which does alter the flavour a bit) however we love it just as much without! You can actually find smoking kits pretty easily these days if do have someone special to impress with your mixology skills on date night. Or simply take them to Storyville.

Storyville in the Melbourne CBD is a fairytale-themed venue. Sip imaginative cocktails under glowing mushrooms, perch on “tree stumps” and feel Liliputian next to giant books. It would be a conversation-starting bar for your hen’s party cocktail hour (they do offer hen’s packages). Or even make for a weird and wild after-party spot post-wedding reception. They can cater to up to 230 people privately or alternatively have many booth options for smaller celebrations.

Belle’s Rose by Storyville

  • 50ml Pure Scot whiskey
  • 7.5ml De Kuyper apricot brandy
  • 7.5ml rose syrup
  • 25ml lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with plenty of ice and fine strain into a Nick and Nora glass. Attach rose to stem of glass with small clip.

Optional: place on serving glass dome and platform and infuse full dome with cherrywood smoke. Serve like this lifting the dome revealing the drink to the guest.

About Ms Fleur De Lys: Aside from being Ms Polka’s Editorial Assistant, Ms Fleur de Lys is also Polka Dot Bride’s Melbourne correspondent so you’ll see her running all over town finding wedding inspiration. As both a lifestyle journalist and cocktail aficionado, Fleur appreciates the power of words whipped up as deftly as a good martini.