This week’s cocktail recipe happens to be one of my personal favorites. Over the past few weeks, we’ve discovered that I am extremely sensitive to anything bitter, which explains why I usually gravitate towards fruity and sweet cocktails. Luckily, my husband found this recipe for The Vieux Mot, a St-Germain and gin-based cocktail that is really crisp and balanced.

Read below for the full recipe!

The Vieux Mot

1 oz Gin
1 oz St-Germain
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Cointreau

This recipe originally called for three parts gin to just one of St-Germain, so if you like your cocktails on the dry side, play around with those proportions and omit some of the simple syrup or Cointreau.  Pour all of the ingredients into a shaker and shake for about 20 seconds.  Serve in a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a cherry, and enjoy!

 

The Vieux Mot (“Old Word”) is a fantastically simple, silky, and delicious cocktail.  It’s sweet, tart, and fruity without being cloying.  It features St-Germain, an elderflower-flavored French liqueur.  St-Germain is sweet and flowery and can easily overwhelm a drink, but I find it balances with gin very well.  At equal parts gin and St-Germain, the sweet elderflower taste really stands out in this drink but still leaves a delicious undercurrent from the juniper-flavored gin.  The Vieux Mot is a a new variation on an old cocktail, the Prohibition-era Last Word that mixed gin with green Chartreuse and lime juice.  Haven’t tried that one yet…

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper