A New Cocktail Book Shows You How to Spritz French Fluently
This cocktail recipe book from PUNCH and St-Germain showcases how the world’s top bartenders and tastemakers craft the spritz.
This write-up comes to us from Edible Brooklyn….
Spritz. It’s a feeling as much as a cocktail. Simply speaking it seems to add a light, refreshing, even elegant vibe. The traditional aperitif made with sparkling wine, a citrus-forward liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, or St-Germain, and soda water took over our Instagrams last summer, but the spritz is more than just a cocktail to sip when the temps soar.
Drink it in the winter with spiced pear, in the spring with rosé, even in the fall with apple cider. The new cocktail recipe book, How to Spritz French Fluently (out March 1), details how to spritz year-round.
“The spritz is an approachable, easy going, delicious style of cocktails. On a lighter side of flavor and alcohol, this makes it a perfect brunch, aperitif, and daytime drinking cocktails,” says Camille Ralph Vidal who is the global ambassador for St-Germain French elderflower liqueur.
As with How to Drink French Fluently, the book is a collaboration between Punch Creative (the in-house custom content studio affiliated with PUNCH) and Vidal.
“I was inspired by the French aperitif culture and how exciting the Spritz category can be throughout the year—not just summer—with some creative, inspiring, delicious French spritz recipes,” Vidal says.
Divided by season, How to Spritz French Fluently features 40 spritz recipes from bartenders around the world including Maxime
Belfant (Saxon + Parole, New York), Angela Ross (Clyde Common, Portland Oregon), and Margot Lecarpentier (Combat, Paris), among others. How to Spritz French Fluently isn’t just a simple cocktail book. The book explores the history of aperitif culture, highlights some of France’s spritz hotspots, and provides tips on stocking your bar.
“Spritzing the French way is exploring the French aperitif culture, all the beautiful French ingredients, as well as a savoir-faire when it comes to sipping, hosting, cheering,” Vidal says.
We’ll toast to that and to transitioning from winter to spring with this Spiced Pear & Elderflower Collins from mixologist Stacey Swenson of Manhattan bar Dante.
SPICED PEAR & ELDERFLOWER COLLINS
Makes one cocktail
INGREDIENTS
1 oz St-Germain
1 oz cognac
0.75 oz pear juice
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz Quartre Epices Honey Syrup
Club soda to top
INSTRUCTIONS
Method: Combine all ingredients the club soda, in a mixing tin and shake. Strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a horse’s neck lemon peel and freshly cracked pepper.
