'Mother of all cocktails' costs £80-a-sip

A London hotel has launched a champagne cocktail sprinkled with gold dust which costs roughly £80 for a single sip.

The When Louis Meets Louise blends Louis XIII cognac with 1998 Cuvée Louise Blanc. Add a sugar cube, a dash of Angostura bitters and a sprinkling of real gold dust, and the end result is a drink that will set you back £800.

Vaibhav Rustagi, head barman at the Gilt Champagne Lounge in Belgravia's Jumeirah Carlton Hotel, said: "This is the mother of all champagne cocktails. Its key is the contrast between the bubbles and the aftertaste of the bitters and the sugar. We only use 15ml of cognac in the cocktail, which is 10ml less than a normal shot, because it is so strong - it would otherwise kill the taste of the champagne.

"The sugar keeps the champagne bubbly so you can see the gold dust swirling around for ages." The cost of the cocktail is partially justified by the fact that the cognac costs £1,000 a bottle; the champagne is a mere £250.

After enjoying a When Louis Meets Louise, customers are invited to take home a souvenir of the experience - a pair of £250 Prima Donna Moser flutes.

The drink was launched to mark the re-opening of the bar, which has undergone a £750,000 refurbishment.

Guillaume Marly, director of food and beverages at the Cadogan Place hotel, said: "We had three words in our minds when we designed the bar - luxury, indulgence and intimacy. The cocktail is going to be the stamp for the champagne lounge."

To date, however, Mr Marly's theory has not been tested: nobody has ordered a When Louis Meets Louise.