Cooking Lesson #266: The St. Germain Parisian Cocktail

… from the Happy Hour Bar

Credit: Perspectives, Inc.

How you doin’? Now that your winter duds are safely stored for the season it’s time to dust off your summer shorts and reach for lighter cocktails. The St. Germain Parisian Cocktail is another perfect summer Champagne cocktail.
 
In “Arsenic and Old Lace”, a 1944 American dark comedy film directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant, the poison was secreted in elderberry wine. While St. Germain is derived from elderberry flowers it has nothing to do with arsenic—do you feel better now?
 
St. Germain was created by distiller Robert Cooper and brought to market in 2007 by Cooper Spirits Company, a company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York. In 2013, the company was sold to Bacardi. Robert Cooper agreed to work with Bacardi as a consultant, "brand guardian" and spokesperson. Robert Cooper passed away in 2016 at the tender age of 39.
 
St. Germain is naturally flavored, and each bottle can contain up to 1,000 elderberry flowers. St. Germain’s flavor is compelling, pleasantly floral, lightly herbal, sweet without being sugary, and is surprisingly versatile for mixed cocktails.
 
St. Germain won the Grand Gold Medal at the Monde Selection in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and the "Chairman's Award" in the Liqueur category at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2010.
 
Who was this soon to be named saint? Germain was the bishop of Paris and is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. According to an early biography, he was known as Germain d'Autun—"Father of the Poor"—for the abandoned people; abuse victims; against poverty; disabled people; girls from rural areas; illness; impoverishment; loss of parents; shepherdesses; sick people; unkind people; physical therapists—that’s a lot of responsibility.
 
Take a few minutes to enjoy a St. Germain Parisian Cocktail and bless yourself.
 
Ingredients
1/2 ounce St. Germain
1/2 ounce Lillet Blanc
1/2 ounce honey syrup (equal parts honey and filtered water combined)
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 ounces Champagne or other sparkling wine
 
Directions

1. Add ice to shaker with all ingredients except champagne.
2. Shake for 10 to 15-seconds to mix and chill.
3. Strain into a Champagne flute.
4. Top with Champagne.

ChefSecret:  Lillet is classified as an aromatized wine. It is a French wine-based aperitif from Podensac. It is a blend of 85% Bordeaux region wines (Semillon for the Blanc and for the Rosé, Merlot for the Rouge) and 15% macerated liqueurs, mostly citrus liqueurs (peels of sweet oranges from Spain and Morocco and peels of bitter green oranges from Haiti). The mix is then stirred in oak vats until blended. During the aging process, Lillet is handled as a Bordeaux wine undergoing fining, racking, filtering etc.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Many found out over the last year when locked down together… Love is blind—marriage is the eye-opener.”
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                                                 ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

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