For my MxMo XIX theme in September of last year I chose ‘Fizz’ generally because I thought it’d be fun and narrowly because I have trouble denying myself any reason to have a drink topped with sparkling wine, champagne, tonic water or club soda. Or hell, any with champagne as a base for that matter. So recently when my glorious wife shoved a stack of papers in my face with a great number of drinks she felt I needed to make for her to try post-haste I had no trouble taking that honey-do on when I saw how many involved the bubbly.

Among the many she found were the winners of last year’s Tales of the Cocktails competition; the Crescent City Blossom, the Starfish Cooler, and the Sparkling Sakepom as well as several from the Food Network and Martha Stewart websites including the Laughter in the Rain¹ , the Killer Mango Champagne Cocktail, the Grand Champagne Cocktail, and the Frizzante Mojito. Now, many of these require more work than I’m immediately willing to put in sight unseen² but several of these I could try with little pre-work and had the right ingredients ready, and willing, to go. We tried the Starfish Cooler, the Crescent City Blossom, and the Frizzante Mojito. Each had their considerable charms, and none fell flat or disappointed. Read More »

1. this is another drink that uses cucumber in its preparation, like the Flying Cucumber, to good effect; bit too sweet for me though [↩]
2. I’m looking at you Killer Mango thingy [↩]

In my attempt to get to better know St-Germain Elderflower liqueur I went on a hunt for recipes far and wide at one point landing squarely and confidently on Michael Dietsch’s ‘The Flying Cucumber‘ which he posted at his blog, A Dash of Bitters, many months ago. I was attracted to this recipe for various and sundry reasons, among them:

• Cucumber….goooood
• Elderflower liqueur…looking for a better use for this puppy
• Gin. duh.
• Sort of a modified Aviation.
• Reminds me of these folks

At the time I had this drink, I was having a terrible time finding a consistently good use for St-Germain, and while I’ve found a few other drinks that use it well, it still remains problematic for me. I find its body a bit too heavy and tacky¹ and while it’s not exactly sweet it is a very powerful ingredient that I find easily overpowers most drinks. It’s exceptionally good in a a champagne glass (with the champagne mind you) and adding a half ounce of it to a dry champagne or even a prosecco adds a wonderful floral quality. The only other full-blown cocktail in which I’ve seen it really play well and blend harmoniously with others is the Crescent City Blossom, which received a 3rd place tie at last year’s Tales of the Cocktails competition. It uses a full ounce, which was mind-blowing to me when seeing the recipe, but that’s for another post. For now, on to The Flying Cucumber. Read More »

1. I just didn’t feel like using the word ‘cloying’ here [↩]