St. Germain

[mssurgeon81]

I made the Left Bank Martini off the St Germain website last night - it was amazing! I'm just starting to try out gin-based cocktails, and while a straight-up Bombay Sapphire gin-and-tonic still tastes a little medicinal to me, the St Germain in this drink added some smoothing floral notes that made the gin much more approachable.

Still looking for new ideas for using this stuff...I may have to try that St Germain margarita one...

[tikibars]

Here is my favorite of the St. Germain concoctions I have played with so far.

Jeff Berry called it a "home run", but I call it...

Velo:

1 oz. St. Germain.

1/2 oz. home made passion fruit syrup.

4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters.

1.25 oz. Gin (Hendricks and Beefeater work well, Tanqueray is not bad, Bombay does not work).

3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice.

Shake for a long time with a lot of ice and strain into a wine glass (or a cocktail glass).

[Chris Amirault]

Found a new bottle much cheaper than the past bottles ($29 instead of $35-37 elsewhere), and started thinking about another drink. Having just gotten this piece out the door, I was wondering about Negroni options, and saw this:

"Comte de Sureau"

Negroni Variation by Yours Truely

4 cl Dry Gin of Choice

3 cl St. Germain Elderflower

0,7 cl Campari

Straight Up or On The Rocks. Orange Twist

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I was also thinking about those equal parts drinks, and thought, what the hell.

Quatroni

3/4 oz Tanqueray

3/4 oz Punt e Mes

3/4 oz Campari

3/4 oz St. Germain

It really shouldn't work. It should just suck. But, well, it's actually pretty damned great.

[jmfangio]

It really shouldn't work. It should just suck. But, well, it's actually pretty damned great.

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On that point, I must disagree. To paraphrase the great Homer Simpson, "St. Germain, is there anything it can't do?"

I've been playing around with my Nocino since I bottled it last week, and first order of business was to recreate the Boutonniere that I had at Alembic, and I think I'm pretty close with 2:1 scotch/nocino with a dash of Regan's, but then I thought about bringing some St. Germain to the party, and came up with something I'm calling:

The Dickens

1 1/2 oz Scotch (I'm using Famous Grouse since that's what I have on hand)

3/4 oz Nocino

1/2 oz St. Germain

dash or two orange bitters

With the warmth of the scotch, the nut and spice notes of the Nocino, and the fruit/floral notes of the St. Germain, I'd swear that this tastes like English Christmas Pudding in a glass.

Edited August 21, 2008 by jmfangio (log)

[slkinsey]

NY Metromix has a nice roundup of cocktails in the city with elderflower flavor.

Some that we may know:

Death & Co. | Nina’s Moan

This East Village Prohibition-themed lounge was an early adapter of elderflower liqueur, but for reasons as methodic as the expertly crafted cocktails offered here. “It plays well with a lot of spirits, so there are a lot of things you can do with it," says manager Joaquin Simo. This champagne cocktail (named for Nina Simone—a nod to the jazz tunes regularly played here) balances the Courvoisier VSOP cognac’s bite with gentle floral notes for a bittersweet, dry finish. Angostura bitters lend a robust orange body while Paul Roger champagne imbues the drink with its tawny color and fizzy upswing that tingles on the tongue. As Simo points out, “There’s nothing that you can’t pour Paul Roger over—breakfast cereal, whatever.” (Price: $12)

Verdict: 4 stars

This champagne cocktail billows beautifully out from the initial dry, bubbly sip into a fruity, orange-flavored cognac, but ends dryly as well, which could leave a bitter taste.

Pegu Club | La Fleur de Paradis

Though elderflower is relatively new to American palates (Europeans have been sipping the stuff for centuries), Pegu Club’s head bartender Kenta Goto argues it’s not as exotic as you might think: “Its flavor is close to that of a pear or a lychee, so it’s still somewhat familiar.” To satisfy the requests of the Cosmopolitan-swilling weekend crowd here, who regularly request lychee martinis despite its absence on the menu, Goto created this delicate cocktail that replicates the sweet, floral flavor by using elderflower liqueur. The result is a soft and fizzy gin-based cocktail, whose sparkling personality is further enhanced by champagne. The walk-off is citrusy and light, thanks to freshly squeezed lemon and grapefruit juices, while orange bitters keep things grounded. Floating edible pansies makes for an elegant presentation. (Price: $12)

Verdict: 5 stars

The dryness of the gin and champagne balances their sweeter counterparts, making this cocktail as lovely-tasting as it looks and sounds.

[tikibars]

Can't resist a little horn tooting here, because I am happy today:

Just found out that my Velo (a few posts above) tied for first place in the St. Germain sponsored cocktail competition for August 2008.

:-)

[Chris Amirault]

Just made it: fantastic drink, a nice riff on a variety of tiki themes but hardly a tiki drink. Made it with Plymouth, which I think works very well.

And, yeah, really: 4 dashes of the Peychaud's. Trust him.

[Dave the Cook]

I had a lovely twist on the French 75 today at Holeman & Finch (actually, I had two, but only one used St. Germain).

As best I can tell -- I haven't had a chance to try making it myself -- it's something like this:

1-1/2 white rum (I think they used Myer's)

1/2 St. Germain

1/2 lemon juice

Two dashes Peychaud's bitters

Shake and pour into a flute, then top with brut champagne. Garnish with an oily lemon horse's neck.

[KatieLoeb]

James:

Congrats! That's awesome news. And it sounds like a very tasty drink. It's the light at the end of my tunnel tonight when I finish a bit of work I have to do. I'm really looking forward to trying it...

edited to add:

I couldn't wait until I was finished typing and needed some "inspiration" of the liquid sort. The Velo is delightful! I made one with Bluecoat gin and some Fee Brothers Passionfruit cordial and it's absolutely one of my new favorites. Great work James!

Edited October 6, 2008 by KatieLoeb (log)

[Susie Q]

Many of these cocktails have been yummy to sip. Thanks for posting them.

I also like St. Germain just on it's own.

[Kent Wang]

To me the ultimate St. Germain cocktail is the one I had at Death & Co., also my first encounter with St. Germain, called the Elder Fashion: gin, St. Germain, lemon juice. I'm not sure what proportions but I make it as:

2 gin

.5 St. Germain

.5 lemon juice

It's called the Elder Fashion as a pun on the Old Fashioned, but on its own it's not a very attractive name. I've been calling it the Elderflower Sour. What do you think? I like the rhyming.

I just tried a 3:1 Laphroaig 10 cask strength to St. Germain. The combination is pretty interesting as the elderflower comes in first and is then overwhelmed by the peat and smoke. I think I'll play with this combination a bit, probably dial down the scotch.

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I think Islay scotch is just too smoky, and doesn't mix well. So I tried using mezcal instead:

2 Monte Alban mezcal

.75 St. Germain

.5 lemon juice

I call it the Desert Flower. This works much better than scotch and has become quite a hit with my friends.

[plattetude]

To me the ultimate St. Germain cocktail is the one I had at Death & Co., also my first encounter with St. Germain, called the Elder Fashion: gin, St. Germain, lemon juice. I'm not sure what proportions but I make it as:

2 gin

.5 St. Germain

.5 lemon juice

It's called the Elder Fashion as a pun on the Old Fashioned, but on its own it's not a very attractive name. I've been calling it the Elderflower Sour. What do you think? I like the rhyming.

My memory has it as gin (Plymouth, as I recall), St. Germain, grapefruit bitters, and a (substantial) grapefruit twist. Over a rock. And that's confirmed over on the D&C website (tho that lists orange bitters rather than grapefruit).

Christiopher

[slkinsey]

To the best of my knowledge it's a gin Old Fashioned sweetened with St. Germain (thus the name). Something like: 2 ounces of gin, 1/2 ounce of St. Germain and a dash of orange bitters stirred and strained onto big ice in a rocks glass and garnished with a grapefruit twist. Simple and delicious. It doesn't contain any lemon juice, although Kent's elderflower sour sounds pretty good too. I tend to find 1/2 ounce of St. Germain needs 3 ounces of gin to balance at my preferred level of sweetness for this kind of drink, so balancing 1/2 ounce of St. Germain with 1/2 ounce of lemon juice sounds like a pretty good idea.

[thirtyoneknots]

We call it something else, but the Elderflower Sour has been a big hit for us. Made with something fairly delicate like Hendricks its a fantastic gateway for those who don't know they like gin yet.

[Kent Wang]

Wow, I can't believe I mis-remembered it. I just made the Elder Fashion the proper way for the first time. You definitely get the elderflower full blast, and the floral characteristics seem to linger longer, but I think the Elderflower Sour is a more balanced drink with the lemon rounding out both the gin and the St. Germain.

[Sneakeater]

It just occurred to me that St. Germain might marry well (with friends) with one of the geneevers that we now have available to us.

[plattetude]

It just occurred to me that St. Germain might marry well (with friends) with one of the geneevers that we now have available to us.

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Confirmed. Genevieve can stand up to a pretty healthy splash of St. Germain, as long as it's balanced with a good dose of orange bitters. (Actually, I've taken to using Bitter Truth Lemon Bitters with St. Germain.)

Christopher

[tikibars]

Thanks for the props on the Velo, Chris and Katie.

Working on a new one now with Clement rum, Clement creole, SG, and lemon... it is coming along nicely...

[Chris Amirault]

I read that and think, "Bitters...."

[Keith Orr]

1/2 oz. home made passion fruit syrup.

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I've been looking for passion fruit syrup and can't find any.

Are you willing to share your technique for making the homemade variety?

[Sneakeater]

It just occurred to me that St. Germain might marry well (with friends) with one of the geneevers that we now have available to us.

←

Confirmed. Genevieve can stand up to a pretty healthy splash of St. Germain, as long as it's balanced with a good dose of orange bitters. (Actually, I've taken to using Bitter Truth Lemon Bitters with St. Germain.)

Christopher

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I just did a really simplistic mix of 3 parts Genevieve, 1 part St. Germain, and a good splash of fresh lemon juice. It was good (but simplistic).

I'll try orange bitters next (or get some lemon bitters).

[Sneakeater]

Not meaning to live blog my evening's libations, but the more I'm drinking this, the more I'm liking it.

[tikibars]

1/2 oz. home made passion fruit syrup.

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I've been looking for passion fruit syrup and can't find any.

Are you willing to share your technique for making the homemade variety?

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It is so easy!

Go to your local ethnic market and get a packet of Goya brand passion fruit pulp.

Ought to cost you under three bucks.

Thaw it out and add equal amounts of the pulp and sugar water (simple syrup).

(Or: 2 parts pulp, 1 part sugar, 1 part water)

Heat it all up just a little to make sure the sugar melts and properly integrates.

Let it cool and pour it into a bottle.

Shake it all up like a mo'fo', add a shot of clear rum as a preservative, and you're done!

I used to use Trader Vic's brand Passion Fruit syrup but never again!

It is all HFCS crapola.

This simple home made recipe blows away anything on the shelves.

[Keith Orr]

1/2 oz. home made passion fruit syrup.

←

I've been looking for passion fruit syrup and can't find any.

Are you willing to share your technique for making the homemade variety?

←

It is so easy!

Go to your local ethnic market and get a packet of Goya brand passion fruit pulp.

Ought to cost you under three bucks.

Thaw it out and add equal amounts of the pulp and sugar water (simple syrup).

(Or: 2 parts pulp, 1 part sugar, 1 part water)

Heat it all up just a little to make sure the sugar melts and properly integrates.

Let it cool and pour it into a bottle.

Shake it all up like a mo'fo', add a shot of clear rum as a preservative, and you're done!

I used to use Trader Vic's brand Passion Fruit syrup but never again!

It is all HFCS crapola.

This simple home made recipe blows away anything on the shelves.

←

Thanks.

[shantytownbrown]

****first time poster****

so this is my first eG post, i have been lurking here on occasion, and thought i'd join in on the conversation.

I picked up a nip of St. Germain on a whim at the store the other day, having seen numerous ads for the stuff in foodie-wine mags. I was curious. I came here and read through your posts before doing anything with it. I sensed a little excitement in the discovery of this new libation, so I was anxious to open and try my first experiment.

Having also picked up a new rye to try after polishing of my "old Overholt" a few weeks ago, and you all suggesting that St. Gemain and whiskey is a good pair, I scanned and noticed no one tried a Sazerac Variiation. I figured what the hey, i'd give it a whirl going with the consensus 2:1 whiskey to edelflower ratio. If i missed the post where one of you all already did this, i apologize ahead for my oversight.

(needs a proper name...St Saz? East Bank? (district of N.O.La were french q is))

here it is, tho you dont need me to tell you all how to mix a Sazerac..

two iced down rocks glasses.

2 oz Mitcher's Rye (US1-4yo)

1 oz St. Gemain

2-3 "healthy dashes" of Peychaud's Bitters

pour above into one rocks glass and then strain into the other, after the ice has been dumped and a Absinthe rinse is applied. (I had Pernod on hand) (I have also done sazeracs where i rinse then chill then dump the ice, haven't figured which method i like better or if i can tell the diff, but thats another discussion).

Deishious..i see where you all descibe the "peachiness" of the whiskey that comes out with the Edelflower.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. and feel free to suggest a name if it doesn't already have one out there)

I hope to try a Negroni variation that someone suggested in an above post when I go and get a full bottle later this week.

Hope to follow along and post more in the near future around the board.

{raising a glass}

Shanty (aka Scott)