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Elderflower Collins

Posted on July 25, 2014 | Leave a comment

One of the most popular cocktails I’ve written about is the French Gimlet, a martini-style sipper that includes St-Germaine, a liqueur from France. Since St-Germaine is still uber-popular — and I personally love it — I have taken it upon myself to seek out other recipes that include it.

I happened upon the Elderflower Collins at the Oak Room lounge inside the Fairmont Palliser hotel while I was researching an upcoming Calgary Herald column on the resurgence of the gin and tonic (look for it in early August). This long cocktail is tart and refreshing and rather like a Tom Collins but with the sweet and floral elderflower liqueur for a delicious twist. Take advantage of these warm summer evenings by sipping one on your deck or patio. Delightful!

This lovely long drink is on the "FAME" (Fairmont Artistic Mixology Experience) menu at the Fairmont Palliser hotel.

This refreshing long drink is on the “FAME” (Fairmont Artistic Mixology Experience) menu at the Fairmont Palliser hotel.

Elderflower Collins

1 oz Martin Miller’s gin
1/2 oz St-Germaine Elderflower
1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
Top soda water
Mint sprig and lemon wheel garnish

Method: In a cocktail shaker, combine gin, St-Germaine, lemon juice and simple syrup and shake with ice. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Top with soda and garnish with a mint sprig and a lemon wheel.

— Recipe courtesy Fairmont Palliser hotel

Drink of the Week: French Gimlet

Posted on February 1, 2013 | 1 comment

I have been searching for St-Germain for several months. This trendy French liqueur is made from the blossoms of elderflowers and has become an “it” mixer to add to drinks such as gin and tonics or champagne cocktails. Sadly, liquor stores in Calgary either do not carry it or are sold out of it. So when my husband came across a large bottle at a liquor warehouse in Scottsdale, Ariz. (not unlike Costco, only stocked with booze — the warehouse, not the city) he snapped it up.

Even the bottle looks French. Tres chic!

I went online to search for St-Germain cocktail recipes and came across the French Gimlet. A traditional gimlet, if you’ll recall from the 70s, called for either vodka or gin plus Rose’s lime, a cordial that is super-sweet and also a frightening green hue from the Blue 1, a food colorant. I am happy to report the French Gimlet calls for fresh squeezed lime juice and relies on the St-Germain as the sweetening agent.

On its own St-Germain tastes rather like Lillet, but with both fruit and floral notes and, to summon my inner French mademoiselle, a “je ne sais quoi” that’s almost honey-like. Curiously, when shaken with vodka and lime juice the end result is not unlike a Dawa cocktail. I liked it, but mostly I am just excited to add a bottle of St-Germain to the liquor cabinet!