St. Germain liqueur: history, description + 3 cocktail recipes

About St. Germain liqueur

Saint-Germain (St-Germain) - this is a 100% natural thick and viscous elderberry liqueur made in France. It does not contain any artificial additives or colors, except for natural ingredients.

The liqueur has a strength of 20% and is made exclusively from fresh elderberry flowers and grape alcohol, which are hand-picked in the French Alps.

Elderberry flowers are very whimsical and capricious and retain their heady aroma for only a few days after harvesting. The flowering period of elderberry is 4-6 weeks, only the best harvesters are invited to collect its flowers. The collected "harvest" is immediately delivered to collection points and then sent to production.

How to make St. Germain liqueur?

Processing elderberry flowers has some difficulties: they release bitterness under the press, and when frozen, they lose their wonderful flavor. But thanks to the unique technology of crushing flowers and the process of fast and continuous maceration (separation of plant or animal cells in tissues), the craftsmen manage to extract the unique aroma of elderberry flowers. The resulting drink contains less sugar than conventional liqueurs, which makes it refined and elegant.

Due to such a labor-intensive production process, St. Germain will forever remain a handmade liqueur, and will never be produced on an industrial scale.

The history of Saint Germain liqueur

Rob Cooper, a big fan of Paris and France, as well as a third-generation distiller, opened his company Coopers Spirit Co. in 2006. And in 2007, he created a new liqueur. In order to bring this drink to life, he gathered a team of the best mixologists in the country. Rob wanted to create a real French liqueur that could conquer even the most avid gourmets. And so, St-Germain liqueur was born.

Coopers Spirit Co. really wanted the whole world to know about this amazing drink, and in 2013 they sold St. Germain to Bacardi. Despite the fact that St-Germain no longer belonged to Rob, he was the official representative of this brand for a long time. But in 2016, the ideological inspirer and creator of elderberry liqueur passed away at the age of 39.

The American edition of The New York Times stated that St-Germain liqueur has had a huge impact on the world of cocktails over the past decade.

Breath of the Alps cocktail

Ingredients

1. St. Germain liqueur - 60 ml

2. Sparkling dry wine - 100 ml

3. Lemon soda - to taste

4. Ice - 2 cubes

5. Lemon zest spiral

Method of preparation

1. Before cooking, the glass of collins must be thoroughly cooled.

2. Pour elderflower liqueur into the prepared glass, then pour sparkling wine and throw a few ice cubes.

3. Now pour lemon soda to the top.

4. Garnish with a lemon peel spiral when serving.

PM Cooler cocktail

Ingredients

1. St. Germain liqueur - 15 ml

2. Gin, infused with grapefruit zest - 40 ml

3. Sugar syrup - 15 ml of vodka

4. Water with gas - 80 ml

5. Lemon juice - 20 ml

6. Cucumber - 1 slice

7. Ice

Method of preparation

1. Mix gin, sugar syrup, lemon juice and elderflower liqueur in a shaker.

2. Put ice cubes in a sling glass and pour the contents of the shaker.

3. Fill the free space with sparkling water.

4. Garnish with a cucumber slice when serving

Gold rush cocktail

Ingredients

1. St. Germain liqueur - 15 ml

2. Gin - 30 ml of grapefruit liqueur

3. Mango - 200 g

4. Mango tea - 50 ml

The method of preparation

1. Mango in a blender.

2. Mix all ingredients, including mango, in a shaker.

3. Put ice in a glass, pour the contents of the shaker.

4. Garnish with a cucumber slice when serving.

Update: 28.10.2017

Category: Liqueurs and Tinctures