I am absolutely in love with St. Germain. I caved and bought a bottle for myself the other day. In case you didn't know, it is an Elderflower Liqueur from the French Alps. Each bottle is carefully crafted, and the Elderflower blossoms are picked over a 3-4 week period, once a year for the entire year's worth of St. Germain. This small window of harvesting the blossoms makes this liqueur very special and limited.
When I first started drinking St. Germain I didn't really know much about it. I knew it was an Elderflower liqueur, but that's about all... I didn't even know what an Elderflower was. I knew that I liked it, so when I see it in a cocktail, I order it. The flavor reminds me of the lychee fruit, but it's one of those things that everyone experiences differently.
I did a little research and learned a lot about everything that goes into producing a bottle of St. Germain, and it's kind of a romantic process. During peak Elderflower season, a French man goes into the French Alps and carefully plucks each Elderflower bunch of blossoms by hand. He gathers them in large linen sacks, straps them to his bicycle and rides down the Alps to the market. They even label each bottle with the date on which the flowers were picked!
Here's a recipe for a cocktail off the website:
St. Germain cocktails are fantastically fruity with just the right amount of sweet floral notes. When I've had one in bars or restaurants, I've usually had it with champagne or gin. It's also very versatile, and I found a recipe for St. Germain Sangria that sounds awesome. I'll have to post a picture when I try it out. Try St. Germain next time you come across it... think of the cute little French men plucking flowers for your cocktail.
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