Jam – the condiment of choice for sticky-fingered children – had a more adult outing on Thursday at the launch of House Boutique Hotel’s “social cocktail” menu.

The new cocktails designed by upmarket liquor importers La Familia are all flavoured by hearty dollops of jam made by L’Irresistible, an NGO that provides employment for adults with disabilities.

Ian Jones, adviser to the hotel since its launch earlier in the year, has become a passionate jam evangelist, despite growing up in Australia, where Vegemite is the more traditional spread.

“It’s good for shock,” he says of the new cocktails. “The jam gives [people] the sugar they need, and the alcohol relaxes them.”

“Maybe if you’re robbed or something, or depressed – jam!” he exclaims with a laugh.

And the cocktails at House Boutique certainly are cheering. Despite the two teaspoons of fruity syrup in every drink, they’re refreshingly zingy, rather than overly sweet.

In the Banana Hammock ($4.25), dollops of banana jam are balanced out by cinnamon and angostura bitters with a whiskey base. The Coco Snap ($4.50) combines pineapple-coco jam with cognac and prosecco to create a fizzy, moreish tipple.

Thursday’s launch was billed as a “social cocktail” event, a label that Jones says reflects the hotel’s ethos that “you can do two things at once – you can buy stuff and create social impact.”

And, he added with his typical enthusiasm, “It’s f— jam!” House Boutique Hotel is located at #76 Street 57.