Nettles give mixologist Callum's alcohol-free cocktail extra sting

GET too close to nettles and you could end up with a nasty sting, but a bartender has made them a key ingredient of his entry in the world’s leading cocktail competition.

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

Callum Palmer, who works at Tilt, Nottingham, has made it into Diageo's World Class GB Top 100 Bartenders, where he will compete against some of the country’s most creative mixologists.

The winner will then compete in the final against bartenders from around the world.

The 27-year-old has created three drinks for the contest, including a non-alcoholic cocktail called, appropriately, Stung Shins.

Judges will get to try this and his other two entries Daisy Chain and Portier later this month in Manchester but Nottingham cocktail lovers will be able to sample them first at the bar in Pelham Street for a limited period.

Callum foraged the nettles growing in a St Ann's park, not far from where he lives. While commonly used to make tea or soup, Callum turned them into a cordial and added it to alcohol-free spirit Seedlip Garden 108, which has a garden pea flavour.