Thursday, January 12

Drink Spotlight: Champs Elysees



...it's not exactly like I haven't been drinking. I mean, it's been the holidays! I've just found not very much drive to continue in my quest for making every drink ever. I'm sure someday I'll come back to it, but in the mean time, I thought I'd feature a few more drinks. The first one is this: the Champs Elysees.

It's funny how drinks come in and out of style. I mean, here in St. Louis, there really aren't many craft cocktail bars around. Unfortunately, it's still way, way easier to get a delicious craft beer in this town than anything resembling an exquisite cocktail. That is, of course, unless you're at my house! But supposedly, this may be one of the next big cocktails get revived, so I thought I'd give it a shot. And I've been looking for something to do with my Chartreuse....

The Champs Elysees:
  • 1 1/2 oz. brandy or cognac
  • 3/4 oz. lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz. simple syrup
  • 1/2 oz. Chartreuse
  • 1-2 dashes aromatic bitters
Shake and strain into cocktail glass.

If you're looking for an analog, this cocktail is quite similar to the Sidecar. It's built very similarly, but where the sidecar uses triple sec as a sweetener, the Champs Elysees opts for equal parts Chartreuse and simple syrup. The Chartreuse is an herbal liqueur, so it has a very definitive sweet component, and it makes for a fairly balanced cocktail. The cocktail is definitely tilted slightly towards the "sweet" side, but not overbearingly so. The herbal nature of the Chartreuse offers a lot of complexity to the Sidecar, and the dash of bitters, just a bit of spice. It's a good thing, too, as brandy is good but not particularly assertive, so it makes a good base for more intense flavors.

I'd highly recommend this one. It's a good introduction to Chartreuse and it's delicious!