The Championships: Wimbledon 2012

When we arrived in London over a year ago, one of the top priorities was to go to the All England Lawn Tennis Club for The Championships at Wimbledon. For some strange reason, I never wrote about our day. Cara and I had a great day a year ago, however in true Wimbledon style, we en-counted wind and rain. So when the tournament rolled around again, I decided to return to the All England Club  to capture what makes The Championships so special.

I don’t need to give many people a history lesson on the event, as it is widely considered to be the most famous and most prestigious of tennis tournaments in the world. It was first played in 1877, and it’s one of the few tournaments still to played on grass. Back in 1877, the event had a mens singles field of 22 players and the mens final was watched by around 200 spectators who only paid one shilling each to attend. Today, Wimbledon is now a massive money maker, both on and off the court. For the 256 players who play in the singles draws today, prize money is larger than ever, sponsorship is forever increasing and therefore crowd attendance is constantly growing every year. Due to ever growing popularity of Wimbledon, comes the demand for more food and drink at the Championships.

Arguably the most popular purchase by spectators is the famous Wimbledon strawberries and cream. Fans flock from around the world to experience the Tennis at Wimbledon and strawberries and cream is usually a huge part of their day. Along with this popular snack, champagne and Pimms also have a fair showing. But aside from these standard features at Wimbledon, nearby bars and pubs are now stamping their own name on the Wimbledon festivities. Thanks to the “Drinks Business” web site, I was able to find two new tennis themed cocktails which would be popular at this years event.

One of the cocktails is a Cucumber & Strawberry Mojito Royale.
This Mojito variation consists of:

Build in a tall glass:
45ml Hendricks gin
3 Cucumber slices
2 - 3 Strawberries
A Handful of Mint
15ml Sugar Syrup
15ml Lime Juice
Add Crushed Ice
Topped up with champagne.

The other cocktail featured over the 2 weeks of the Championships is the "SW19 Cocktail”.

In a shaker:
30ml Gin
30ml Mandarine Liqueur
15ml Elderflower Cordial
15ml Lemon Juice
10ml Home made Cucumber Puree
10ml Home made Celery Puree
Shaken and double strained into a short glass over a
frozen lime cordial flavoured ice



A day at Wimbledon is truly an unforgettable experience, and I’ve been lucky to doing have now done it twice. I’m sure the prestige will continue to grow, as i’m sure will the tournaments tennis themed drinks.