Elderflower Champagne Cocktail

This cocktail tastes like vacation – not an actual place, but an idea of one. It took shape on a hazy Sunday evening, spun out of the gauzy August heat and a wistful wish to be far away.

As Amanda and I sipped cool drinks and untangled the end of summer, we pieced together our ideal place. Somewhere in southern France, it has vineyards, of course, and baguettes and a bicycle. Armfuls of flowers and heavy copper saucepans. Gardens and brambles and baskets of fruit.

Our story intertwined with our drinks — champagne stirred with St-Germain, a delicate French liqueur of elderflower blossoms. It tastes of pear and lychee and lemon, the sweetness cut by the bubbles and cool cucumber.

The starry white flowers are said to be picked in the Alps and gathered by bike. It seems too conveniently quaint to be true, but no matter. Like our idyllic chateau in the French countryside, the image itself is enough.

Elderflower Champagne Cocktail
Fill a tumbler with ice. Fill three-quarters of the glass with dry champagne or prosecco. Add thinly sliced cucumber and fresh mint. Top off with St-Germain.