Uh oh! The mad scientist strikes again!

[CrispyCritter]

Today turned into a day to buy unusual liqueurs for cocktail experimentation. One of these was St.-Germain, the recently introduced elderflower liqueur from France.

I tried a small pour of it neat, and found it quite intriguing - fruity and floral, and definitely on the sweet side. So, the gears started turning, and I came up with a first try:

• 2 oz. Powers Gold Label Irish whiskey
• 1/2 oz. St.-Germain
• 1/2 oz. Punt e Mes
• 1 dash Fee's Old Fashioned Bitters

This showed great promise, but the double hit of bitters from the Punt e Mes and the Fee's was just a bit too much - it was still good, though.

So, after finishing it, I tweaked the recipe a bit, substituting Vya red vermouth for the Punt e Mes. C'est magnifique! And so, Version 2:

The Elder Thing

• 2 oz. Powers
• 1/2 oz. St.-Germain
• 1/2 oz. Vya red vermouth
• 1 dash Fee's Old Fashioned

Stir with ice, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with a cherry. I haven't yet tried this with rye or bourbon - I'm thinking it would work well using a wheater.

Tune in tomorrow for an even weirder liqueur: Xtabentun.

[CrispyCritter]

Xtabentún (shta-ben-TOON) is a Mexican liqueur, essentially an anisette made with rum and honey from the xtabentún flower that grows in the Yucatán Peninsula. It is of Mayan heritage, though the rum and anise are more characteristically Spanish.

It's not quite so sweet as the St.-Germain above, but the honey and anise are unmistakable. Here's what I came up with; it features spirits from both coasts of Mexico, plus a touch from farther north:

Dos Océanos

• 1-1/2 oz. reposado tequila (100% agave, por favor)
• 1/2 oz. xtabentún
• 2 dashes Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice; I put it in a cocktail glass with no garnish, but a frosted rocks glass would be appropriate.

It makes me think of a tequila Sazerac... tasty. Something like this using rye would go farther in the Sazerac direction, for that matter.

[CrispyCritter]

I've come up with another one, using the classic spirit/liqueur/vermouth/bitters pattern.

Coeur de France

• 2 oz. Armagnac
• 3/4 oz. St.-Germain
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters

I used a Hors d'Âge bottling from Domaine Le Basque for the Armagnac, and Noilly Prat dry vermouth in mine. For me, the use of dry vermouth is quite unusual, but this worked out so well that I didn't feel any need to use sweet vermouth instead. The sweetness of the liqueur and brandy nicely counterbalances the tang of the vermouth, and the Peychaud's fuses it all together. I went with instinct on the proportions, and fortunately got it spot-on.

Cognac would work very well in this drink, if you don't have Armagnac.