Blend your own: The beverages as bespoke as your superyacht

From tea to tequila, there’s nothing quite like sipping your own bespoke blend. Become a master connoisseur with these unique drinks-making experiences...

Nestled away beneath a 19th century drinking den turned working distillery in the heart of London’s Notting Hill, The Ginstitute offers a unique gin blending experience. The session begins with a Tom Collins and a quick lesson in the spirit’s history, from its medicinal beginnings to today’s ‘ginaissance’, before a gin instructor guides you through the gin-making process, starting with sniffing your way through pots of various botanicals. Having made your selections, the instructor will help create your unique recipe which is bottled up for you to take home and enjoy. The Ginstitute even keeps your creation on its database so you can re-order your masterpiece when you run out.

Each session lasts approximately 1 hour 45 minutes and costs £120 per person, visit theginstitute.com.

In the new Roastery and Bake hall on the ground floor of Harrods lies a haven for tea lovers. The Tea Tailor welcomes aficionados with the chance to create their own unique high-end blend. With over 30 flavours, from delicate rose to the sweet spice of star anise, the expert tea tailors will quiz you on your favourite aromas and create a bespoke recipe to match your palate. The leaves and spices are combined in a large mixing bowl and you can sample the concoction as you go. Once you’re happy, the personalised blend is placed in an elegant tin and the recipe is kept on file.

A personalised tin of tea and label cost £30, visit harrods.com.

This Australian boutique distillery lets you create a cask of your perfect whiskey. The easy online service allows you to choose from a list of variants to create your perfect blend. From base grain and malt, cask type and cask size to smoke level and bottling strength, the specifications are yours to select, before its distillers produce your unique spirit from scratch. For an additional AUD$500 (£270) you are invited to its Sydney distillery to get hands on and take part in the brewing process. The downside is you will have to wait a minimum of 2 ½ years for it to mature and be delivered.

Prices start at AUD$4,000 (£2,200) for a 20 litre cask, visit archierose.com.

Viniv offers the opportunity to produce your own barrel of quality Bordeaux wine. Working with established winemakers Château Lynch-Bages and using vineyards from the regions’s most converted appellations, customers have complete control over the entire creative process from grape to glass. From selecting the vineyards and varietals to finalising your blend and creating your own brand and label, clients can be as hands-on or hands-off as they wish. The process lasts from 6 months (if you choose to ‘adopt’ existing wine components) to 24 months (from vineyard to bottle) and includes an introductory session, vineyard selection tasting as well as a final blending session that takes place before bottling.

Prices start from £6,900 for one barrel of wine (288 bottles), visit __vinivbordeaux.com

Family-run Champagne house Duval-Leroy offers budding connoisseurs the chance to create their own blend of bubbly. Unlike many Champagne houses which outsource all or part of the winemaking process, the Duval-Leroy family fights for a more personal, intimate and exclusive idea of Champagne. The ‘Cuvée Sur-Mesure’ experience starts with a two day trip to its vineyards in Vertus, one of the highest rated Premier Cru villages, where you can immerse yourself in the process from start to finish. After a tour of the vineyard, a cellar master will guide you through winemaking techniques and a tasting class. Once you’ve chosen your favourite type of grape – from Chardonnay to Pinot Noir – you then become the master blender, deciding if you want more intensity, floral or woody notes, spice or buttery flavours.

Prices available on request, visit duval-leroy.com

Premium tequila is one of the most coveted beverages in the world, and Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, México, is serving up an exclusive taste of the blue agave spirit. The resort’s Cultural Concierge leads a hands-on tequila tasting and blending experience, helping participants create their own one-of-a-kind recipe. Guests have an opportunity to choose their favourite flavours from four different barrels to create the spirit. The custom blend is then placed in a handmade Damajuana bottle and sealed with wax. A leather label is signed, numbered, and registered in the logbook of the Casa San Matias Tequila Factory.

Visit fourseasons.com for more information on its tequila blending classes.