La Bicyclette

Recipe courtesy of Jamie Boudreau

The thing that blew me away about St~Germain Elderflower Liqueur (well ok, everything about this product blew me away) was not only was it beautiful, but it tasted great. Not overly sweet (for a liqueur), I got subtle flavors of lychee, peach and citrus: complex and not cloying. (The funny thing is that after tasting, I read the little booklet that comes with the bottle which states that it is “Neither peach nor pear, lychee nor citrus…”).

As if all that wasn’t enough, I read further on to discover some of the methods used in the making of this spirit. First of all, the elderflowers are hand-picked in the Alps. They are then taken, by bicycle, to market, where they are purchased by the distillery. In a matter of days, all the elderflowers for a year’s supply of St~Germain are picked, by hand, by 40 to 50 men! In this day and age of technology, I find such a feat incredulous at best. Nonetheless, let’s just say that no detail was overlooked in production of this fine liqueur. The only downside to all of this, is that it severely limits production. They are only able to produce a certain amount of the spirit each year, and that amount will be limited by how good the year’s crop is. Let’s pray for no brush fires, as I don’t know how I would react if I ran out of this fine product with no replacement in the near future in sight.

Yield

1 drink

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 oz Plymouth gin
- 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
- 1/4 oz St-Germain
- 2 dashes peach bitters

Directions

1) Place all into an iced mixing glass.

2) Stir, strain into a cocktail glass.

3) Garnish with a lemon twist.

- La Bicyclette

- Rosewater Rickey

Rosewater Rickey

Recipe courtesy of Jamie Boudreau

A devout Democrat, Colonel Joe Rickey created his signature drink during the summer of the 1883 campaign. Although the original “Rickey” called for rye and not gin, today we know a Rickey to be a Collins without the sugar and with lime instead of lemon. The Rosewater Rickey below cheats a little by adding sugar to brulee the cherries, but I think that the good Colonel wouldn’t mind so much, as this cool libation will refresh even the most parched campaigner.

Yield

1 drink

Ingredients

- 5 pitted, brandied cherries
- Bar spoon of sugar
- Angostura mist (* see below)

- 3 oz gin
- 1 bar spoon of rosewater
- 1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Directions

1) Brulee the first three ingredients by: placing the cherries in a mixing glass, adding the sugar, and misting the Angostura mixture through a flame. Flame until sugar caramelizes.

2) Fill with ice and add the last three ingredients.

3) Shake and strain into an iced Collins glass.

4) Top with soda water

*For Angostura mist, place equal portions of Angostura bitters and Lemonhart 151 rum into an oil mister/sprayer.

Photographs courtesy of Jamie Boudreau

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