Pimm's Cup with Cucumber Sandwiches
A preview of Chelsea Flower Show this week inspired me to celebrate the start of the British Summer season with a classic cocktail and a very English sandwich.
This post started with a very special preview of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025. I was very kindly invited by the RHS* as a guest, to view the show just as the gardens were being completed, late on Sunday evening (this was a gift, this is not an advert). There was an air of exhaustion and excitement as the final touches were being bestowed and sheeting protecting the gardens was being removed. We were lucky with golden hour light to view the gardens which glowed with plant life and detail. Loud and giddy bumble bees zoomed about with high octane energy having found themselves in a garden of paradise. The gardens themselves were utterly miraculous, despite being purpose-built sets they look as if they had always been resident.
Over the years, I have been lucky to visit the show a number of times and notably there is a drive to design gardens which are sustainable and environmentally friendly, for example no concrete is used when bringing the designs to life. The gardens are also destined to be relocated after the show and then enjoyed for years to come, they are not simply dismantled to no purpose once the crowds leave. In 2025 you are unlikely to see sight of a manicured lawn anywhere near the gardens, the focus is on better and sustainable horticultural practice.
My favourite gardens and moments from this year:
(Picture 1) The flawless landscape of the Cha No Niwa Japanese Tea Garden, designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara, which won a Gold medal and the RHS Chelsea Garden of the Year.
(Picture 2) The beautiful planting from the The Glasshouse Garden, designed by
Jo Thompson with river birch trees, ferns, grasses and roses. The planting colours are inspired by the notion of ‘strong beauty’ in a palette of deep reds and muted pinks. The garden will be relocated to a women’s prison in the South of England.
(Picture 3) Hospice UK: Garden of Compassion, designed by Tom Hoblyn drawing on the spirit of Mediterranean landscapes and showing how thoughtfully designed spaces can provide comfort and calm at the end of life. It won a Silver Medal.
(Picture 4) The King’s Trust Garden: Seeding Success, designed by Joe Perkins displayed pioneer plants and explored how their seeds represent the potential for life. The stunning screen-printed glass panels were a modern take on stained glass windows and cleverly displayed seed dispersal. It won a Gold Medal.
(Pictures 5, 6, 7, 8) The Avanade Intelligent Garden, designed by Tom Massey and Je Ahn. This garden was equipped with AI sensors to track tree health, it won a Gold Medal and Best Construction Award.
(Picture 9) A water bowl detail from the wonderfully eccentric RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden, designed by Monty Don and Jamie Butterworth which won RHS Chelsea Best Dog Garden!
Some drinks and foods are decidedly British and this week, after such a wonderful evening at RHS Chelsea, I wanted to celebrate the best of British Summertime treats. Pimm's is served at the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Henley Royal Regatta, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Chelsea Flower Show. Pimm's No. 1 Cup was created in 1840, it is the most popular of Pimm's seven cup formulations, it is based on gin. The history of the drink is that James Pimm, a farmer's son from Kent, became the owner of an oyster bar in the City of London situated near to the Bank of England. He sold the tonic as an aid to digestion, serving it in a small tankard known as a "No. 1 Cup". It was a gin-based drink containing a secret mixture of herbs and liqueurs and that is the drink we know and love today as Pimm’s Cup. The perfect pairing for this is a traditional cucumber sandwich, read on for my very precise method. Hopefully some inspiration for the looming bank holiday.
Recipes of the Week
Pimm’s Cup
A Summer Pimm’s Cup is a gin-based drink. To serve mix with lemonade and pour over ice, fruits, mint and chopped cucumber.
Serves 2
Ingredients
100ml Pimm’s No 1 Cup
300ml lemonade
chopped strawberries
chopped cucumber
2 slices of orange
2 sprigs on mint
ice
Method
Into a jug pour the Pimm’s and lemonade, add ice, strawberries, cucumber, orange slices, mint and ice. Stir and serve.
Cucumber Sandwiches
To accompany a Pimm’s cup nothing beats a classic cucumber sandwich. There is no recipe here but there is an exact method! In my humble opinion a cucumber sandwich can only be made on sliced white supermarket bread. To slice the cucumber I use the mandolin setting on the side of a standard box grater, then dry the cucumber with paper towels.
Method
Thinly spread two slices of bread with a layer of mayonnaise on both sides, then arrange one layer of thinly sliced cucumber across one side of bread. Season the cucumber well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Close the sandwich, remove the crusts and discard. Cut either into three neat finger sandwiches, or across the diagonal both ways, for 4 neat triangles. Serve and enjoy.
