The £333 cocktail

Two bankers out celebrating their City bonuses have helped create one of the world's most expensive cocktails.

The Goldman Sachs employees had just received sevenfigure sums and were determined to celebrate in style, so they asked a barman at Umbaba in Soho to create the most opulent drink possible. The result was the Magie Noir - costing £333 a glass.

The drink is made from a Richard Hennessy cognac, which sells for £3,000 a bottle, vintage Dom Perignon champagne, Creme de Mure, fresh lemongrass and lychees.

The finishing touch is extract of yohimbe bark, a reputed herbal aphrodisiac from West Africa.

The drink was created when the bankers hosted a table of eight at Umbaba, where regulars include Formula One driver Jenson Button, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Lady Isabella Hervey.

A bar spokesman said: "They said to the barman, 'We want something special, not just the usual bottle of Cristal'. They said they wanted the absolute best of ingredients.

"The drink is quite a mix of flavours. It is quite a dry cocktail, with a subtle sweetness from the lychees and lemongrass. It is very aromatic."

The pair ordered two rounds of Magie Noir, a total of 20 drinks. Because they were buying in bulk they were charged £300 per glass, adding £6,000 to their final bill of about £15,000.

Umbaba has added Magie Noir to its cocktail menu and will launch it at a party on Saturday when each glass will come with a cocktail pin made of 24-carat white gold.

The bar spokesman said: "It is nice to have a badge to say you've had one, which is why we've included the pin."

A more expensive cocktail is available in the Piano Bar at the Sheraton Park Tower, Knightsbridge. The Louis XIII Diamond Cocktail, made with Rémy Martin Louis XIII cognac, includes a diamond at the bottom of the glass and costs from £1,000 to £4,000 depending on the size of stone.

Last month, a City hedge fund manager clocked up a £36,000 bill at the Aviva bar in Kensington after announcing: "The drinks are on me."