Dandy Bartender Recently, we brought home a bottle of
St. Germain , (admittedly as much for the bottle as the contents), and I really enjoyed this artisnal liqueur. Trying it out has been hanging over for me months and I was finally spurred on by the recipe for a cocktail called Gemini published in the June, 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living.
The Gemini, and the mixed St. Germain cocktail, are, in my book, an unnecessary but understandable guild on an already show-stopping lily. St. Germain is sweet, floral, citrusy, and even a little syrupy, depending on the palate. It is the syrup consideration which no doubt caused Living to create Gemini which is a prosecco/ grapefruit/ vodka cocktail (but, oh, stop already - that's enough
stuff) and the kind of thing better dissected by true mixologists like
Cocktail Hacker and
Underhill-Lounge .
For me, St. Germain is perfect straight or up. Put it in a pretty glass and let me reflect on how lucky I am to have it my hand: It is a limited yearly run of liqueur made from hand picked elderflowers from the French Alps. Now that it is popular and trendy, we can count on there being ever so much less available. The booze guru here told me that it was a new customer-request item in his store and that most of his first shipment is gone. Get it while you can, ice it in a shaker, pour, consume, and if you don't love it, put the bottle center front on the bar or send to me.
And while you are at it, You Might Enjoy The story of the liqueur and the process found here
.
