27 April

First established as World Design Day back in 1995 and named International Design Day since 2020, this is a day to commemorate creativity and how design impacts the world around us, from fashion, magazines, websites and packaging to the buildings we live and work in.

April 27th was chosen for this celebratory day as it marks the anniversary of the founding of the International Council of Design (ICoD) in 1963. The ICoD "is the world's largest representative of professional designer entities."

While searching through our cocktail recipes for one suited to International Design Day, it struck me how important glass design is to our world of cocktail culture. The Martini glass we used when photographing Grand Designs, today's cocktail, is fluted and elegant.

King's Day

If you didn't know that orange was the national colour of the Netherlands, it wouldn't take you long to realise this on the 27th April (or the 26th April if the 27th falls on a Sunday) as the whole country turns orange to celebrate King's Day (Koningsdag). A tradition and national holiday since 1890.

The normally straight-laced Dutch let their hair down and make the most of the festivities. Known as oranjegekte, or orange madness after the national colour, the Dutch dress up in the most unlikely and extravagant orange outfits, often topped off with an orange wig or oversized orange sunglasses. Then, it's all aboard the canal boats to live the real King's Day experience with friends and family. It's the largest and most colourful festival in the Netherlands, particularly in Amsterdam, where the whole city stops and the party starts.

Koningsdag is also renowned for vrijmarkt. Literally translating as 'free market', this is best likened to a national boot fair where the Dutch sell unwanted possessions.

Inspired by the King's Day celebrations we created Koningsdag, a cocktail that's appropriately bright orange in colour.

One of our Dutch bartender friends, Fjalar Goud, also crafted a cocktail using Ketel One vodka to honour the day. Called The King Of Orange, he crowned the cocktail, literally, with a zest of orange.