The Bohemian

I really like the new St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur. It's all-natural, delicious, and very unique. The product is top quality, and the recipes the St. Germain folks have come up with are well considered. You can see some of the recipes over at the St. Germain website.

Most of those recipes are, obviously, designed to show off the St. Germain. I wanted to use a different approach, and show the versatility of the St. Germain product. I wanted to use it in more of an "every tiki drink needs a secret ingredient" way. The gorgeous floral aromas and hints of citrus and passion fruit seem to fit the bill perfectly.



Bohemian

1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1 oz Bacardi Superior
1 oz Lemon Hart Demerara Rum
.5 oz Licor 43
.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
.5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 drop absinthe

St. Germain is available now in New York and California, with wider distribution in the works. If you've come up with some St. Germain cocktails, post the recipes here or send me an e-mail. I am enjoying the flexibility of this product and am anxious to hear what the rest of you are coming up with.

Tequila Bramble

The Bramble is a modern classic. It was invented at Fred's Club in SoHo by Dick Bradsell, and has made it's way onto just about every cocktail list in London. It's also made it's way across the Atlantic to North America. I was intrigued by the Bramble, and asked cocktail historian supreme George Sinclair to give me the lowdown. George went above and beyond and provided a full write-up. Thanks very much, George.

One of the variations George mentioned was the tequila version. I thought this would be perfect for this month's Mixology Monday.

Tequila Bramble

1.5 oz tequila
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup
.75 oz creme de mure

Build first three ingredients over crushed ice. Stir, then float the creme de mure on top. Garnish with a lemon slice. If you can't find creme de mure, George suggests substituting another berry liqueur such as Chambord or Creme de Cassis. (I used .5 oz lime juice, and George uses .75 in his recipe. You may need to adjust the amount based on the limes you have.)

Another variation I've been working on is a tropical variant on the same theme.

Tropical Fix


1.5 oz Partida Reposado Tequila
.75 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz agave nectar
.5 oz passion fruit syrup

Build the first three ingredients over crushed ice. Stir, then float the passion fruit syrup on top. I like the way passion fruit plays well with a nice reposado tequila. I use more lime juice in this recipe to balance the sweetness of the agave nectar and the passion fruit syrup.

Matt over at My Bar, Your Bar is hosting this month's Mixology Monday. It's all about tequila, stop by and check out all this month's entries.