When it comes to flowers and St David’s Day celebrations, it’s the daffodil, the national flower of Wales, that is typically selected as the bloom of choice. However, at one special event this year it was a ‘Welsh Daisy’ that took centre stage.
The Welsh Daisy, a specially curated cocktail, was the star of the show at a St David’s Day celebration in New York, organised by Welsh Gin Brand Cygnet 22.
The event, which was hosted by Welsh opera superstar Katherine Jenkins, aimed to serve as a celebration of all things Welsh in the Big Apple, while working to enhance Cygnet 22’s growing reputation as an ultra-premium gin in the US market.
The celebration took place on 8 March at the Pebble Bar, a famed cocktail bar situated in a historic townhouse that forms part of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. Alongside music and tasters of the Welsh Daisy cocktail, the evening also included a curated menu of light bites inspired by the home-cooked Welsh dishes the evening’s host, renowned singer Katherine Jenkins, grew up eating in West Wales.
Speaking about her joy in promoting St David’s Day in the USA, Katherine Jenkins said, ‘As a fiercely proud Welsh woman, I have so often celebrated St Patrick’s Day alongside my Irish friends and raised a glass on Burns Night with my Scottish friends - traditions that are honoured so beautifully around the world. To now see St David’s Day, our own treasured national day, being embraced further in the United States fills me with enormous pride.’
Of course New York wasn’t the only city to see significant St David’s Day gatherings taking place. Alongside the expected parties and parades across Wales, Welsh diaspora groups around the world also organised events to honour Wales’ de facto national day. These events included a night of Welsh poetry and music in Berlin, a big gala ball in Hong Kong, a "banquet" in Philadelphia, and a Welsh cake making class organised in Osaka, Japan, among many others.
So why not raise a glass to celebrate (slightly belatedly!) St David’s Day yourself? Here’s the recipe for the Welsh Daisy cocktail, featuring Cygnet 22 gin:
The Welsh Daisy
1 ½ oz Cygnet 22
½ oz Verjus
¼ oz Pamplemousse Liqueur
1 oz Lemon Juice
¾ oz Pink Peppercorn Syrup
Serve over a large rock
Learn more about the cultural and historic connections between Wales and the USA.