St. Germain Elderflower liqueur

Beer and Spirits
1

This was my early Christmas present to myself this year ($30). It’s an elderflower liqueur from France that is made from flowers. Taste: a cross between lychee, lemon and smells of white flowers. Very subtle. Sweet, but not cloying. Had this in a Pear martini at a restaurant over the weekend, which was really delicious. A half shot of this is my cure to mediocre sparkling wine/Champagne.

Here is how they describe the way they gather the Elderflowers to make the liqueur… sounds too idyllic to be real. [scratch.gif] If you happen to know for a fact it’s true, please set me straight…

“It is in the foothills of the Alps for only a few days in late spring, where we are able to gather the delicate blossoms to make our liqueur. In order to acquire enough of the flowers during the short 2- to 3- week window of blossoming, French farmers are organized to deliver sacks of the elderflower blossoms to local depots, some using specially rigged bicycles.”

Also, if you have any recipes using St. Germain, please share. Thanks.

2

Take one artsy alt rock girl, add five shots of this, name the babies after Cezanne and Sid Vicious…


We sell a lot of that stuff but the demo is VERY specific up here.

3

Girl-y neener

Put some prosecco in it.

http://www.stgermain.fr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; recipes on the site.

Another good recipe link.

4

lol Roberto!

love it with bubbly. Thanks for the link Brent!

5

And if you don’t feel like the extra alcohol just add a touch to some seltzer. Nice light summery drink.

6

i had it in a lemonade smoothy once and it was excellent!

(ps - the brother of the guy who makes this makes a ginger infused cognac that’s pretty damn tasty too)

7

A local bar uses it as the modifying spirit in what is basically a gin sour. It’s a good combo.

This is a close approximation: http://www.stgermain.fr/cocktails.php?r=VieuxMot&page=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

8

Veronica is single-handedly responsible for a good chunk of my Spirits intake.

Curse you, V!!!

9

I LOVE St. Germain. flirtysmile

10

(ps - the brother of the guy who makes this makes a ginger infused cognac that’s pretty damn tasty too)

That would be “Canton”

Their father was the one who developed Chambord. Both sons received large sums of $$ from that sale to be used in an atempt to create their own brands.

Both are awsome products. At this early stage of distrobution (about 2 years) I would say that St Germain will be the one that sticks around.

11

Bottle is really unique

12

I was drinking this today with simple seltzer - it was great - tasted like Leechee nut soda!

13

topped a splash of St. Germain into Prosecco, and sunk in a sliver of Asian Pear. Nice!

14

Made a cocktail with St. Germain tonight… turned out really well. Not sure if it’s called anything specific, but it’s my variation on the “Coterie”. Here’s what I did:

1 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz Limoncello
1/2 oz Damrak Gin (or any gin I’m sure will work)
1/2 oz Cognac (used Park XO)

Pour over a few ice cubes, let set for a minute, then remove ice. Delicious! :slight_smile:

15

Last night I wanted a big glass of ice water late in the evening, and I splashed about a tablespoon of St Germain into it. It was surprisingly refreshing, like a fragrant lemonade. Highly recommended. Probably even better with a lemon slice…

16

Frank…I do this too. It’s good with Sparkling water too!

17

And that’s just for Jasper!

18

I was talking with a guy from Southern at a rum dinner tonight who said he puts an ounce of St. Germain into a glass of Heffenweizen, and it’s fantastic. Will have to try that out.

Zach, I tried a splash of St. Germain into seltzer water. Good call!!

19

Did it. Ees nice!

20

My Grandmother used to make an infusion with elderflower. The sambucus(?) tree is revered in Alpine culture. Medicinal and spiritual powers. We called it Sambu. Nonna even used the flowers to flavor cakes. We used to make wine with the berries. Nasty wine. The pies a little better with enough sugar added, and the distillate alot worse. I remember when we cleared vegetation, we always left the elderberry trees alone. If we had to cut one we made posts out of its wood and tried to use it. Strong magical associations with that tree that goes way back to pre-christian origins.

I’ll try some of this stuff if I see it. Sorry for the flashback thanks for the note.