Cocktail: seawave cumber

The traditional drinks to pair with oysters are champagne, white wine or stout, but according to Grand Hyatt Steakhouse bartender Agnes Chan, customers have been asking her to suggest cocktails to wash them down with instead.

Having given the matter considerable thought, she came up with two - one called a Seawave Cumber and the other called Madame Pamplemousse.

The latter, she says, is intended to appeal to feminine tastes, and is served in a bell-shaped Riedel single malt whisky glass.

Its ingredients are white wine, vodka and grapefruit juice (pamplemousse is French for grapefruit). The drink is light and refreshing.

The Seawave Cumber packs more of a punch. Combining Hendrick's gin with Belvedere vodka, she set out to create something with a taste of the sea, but which also brought out the cucumber and floral character of the Hendrick's.

Cucumber is one of the taste elements to be found in many oysters and thanks to the marketing of Hendrick's, the fruit - botanically it is a fruit - is now a popular garnish for gin-based mixed drinks and cocktails.