Anatomy of a Dinner Party: a day in the life of a hospitalityaholic
 

Fun Find Friday – St-Germain

Written by Patti on May 21st, 2010

Good Morning, Darlings!

This week has been a flurry of parties and with the weekend approaching there seems to be no end in sight. Two dinners with Jeff at our house, Shameeka’s fabulous reception at the Mansion on Peachtree, dinner with my Love at WASABi after the reception, tapas at Clint’s followed by dinner at Carrie and Steven’s loft (more on that next week), tonight a dinner party at the home of neighbor and pastry chef Dave and his wife, Sue, tomorrow the exciting Blogger’s Brunch at The Four Season’s Park 75, then a graduation celebration with my favorite former boss and his precious family and on to Leila’s birthday party on Saturday night.

Whew. Sometimes, a girl is in need of a swanky cocktail just to slow down and reflect a bit.

Is that girl (or guy) you? Do you need a break, my Sweetie? Have I got the cocktail for you. Made with St-Germain.


The Rare and Beautiful Elderflower

But enough with the history, let’s talk cocktails.  You can surely sip St-Germain over a few slivers of ice as an aperitif, but most of the times I have had it in a cocktail, it has been paired with gin.  So yesterday I drove to Green’s and picked up a bottle of St-Germain and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire Gin and got ready to mix.

Oops! I left the house without any recipes for cocktails, so how was I expected to mix up a drink with no ingredients?  See? I have been busy this week!

But the distinguished crafters of St-Germain are kind enough to include a few recipes in the tiny book that comes attached to the sexy, belle epoque, bottle. Funny, the original St-Germain Cocktail doesn’t even mention gin.

The St-Germain Cocktail

2 shots Champagne or Dry White Wine (preferably Sauvignon Blanc)
1.5 shots St-Germain
2 shots Sparkling Water or Club Soda

Stir ingredients in a tall ice-filled Collins glass, mixing completely. Garnish with lemon twist. Feel fancy-schmancy like the French.

For those of you wanting to try a gin based cocktail made with St-Germain, here’s a doozy from Robert Hess at the Chanticleer Society (this is especially for you, Chioke!)

Clipper Ship

2 ounce gin
1 ounce St-Germain
1/2 ounce lime juice
1 dash absinthe
Garnish: Lime twist
Shake with ice, strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. Feel tipsy. Smile a lot. Have Jeeves drive you home.

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend!
xoxo, Patti
 

2 Comments so far ↓

  1. Chioke Duckett says:

    Patti- You know the way straight to my heart is with a well prepared cocktail (tied only with your sausage gravy & biscuits…but I digress). I have been playing around with St. Germaine lately and stumbled upon a recipe for the Left Bank Martini (a variation of your above entitled St. Germaine Cocktail):
    1 part Sauv. Blanc
    1 part gin (I prefer vodka)
    1 part St. Germaine
    gently shaken, twist of lemon, chilled martini glass…pure heaven!

    Is there a virtual cheers/jeers box on your blog?: I love your Friday Cocktail post idea. What better way to end the week than with an adventurous cocktail recipe.

    If you’re ever looking for a contributing writer (read: lush), I’d love to imbibe 🙂

  2. Patti says:

    Chioke – I would adore it if you would do a post on absinthe! That would make me so happy.

    Are we mixing cocktails this weekend?

    Love you! P