St Germain is an elderflower liqueur made using the petals of the black elderberry plant from the Savoir in France. The Savoir is located in the Auvergne Rhone-Alps region of Southeastern France. It has a population of close to 440K people and is known for its numerous ski resorts. The fondue Savoyarde, Tartiflette, and saucisson are well-known culinary delights from this area. Each bottle of St Germain is numbered with the year that the petals of elderflowers were collected. They are collected each spring over a period of three to four weeks and are often transported by bicycle to collection points to avoid damaging the petals and impacting their flavor.

St Germain was launched by Cooper Spirits Co in 2007 and was created by distiller Robert Cooper the son of Norton Cooper who owns Charles Jacquin et Cie a major French alcohol maker. Sadly in 2016, Robert died at the young age of 39.

I have a delicious recipe for my favourite cocktail to make with St Germain which is an Elderflower 75 which is a take on the French 75. The recipe is as follows

Elderflower 75 Cocktail

Ingredients

30mls St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
10mls Bombay Sapphire Gin
10mls Lemon Juice
75mls Champagne

Method

1. In a cocktail shaker pour St‑Germain, gin, and fresh lemon juice

2. Add ice into the shaker and shake vigorously until the drink is chilled.

3. Pour the Champagne into a Champagne flute.

4. Strain the cocktail into the glass with Champagne.

5. Garnish with a slice of lemon rind or a cocktail cherry and serve

St Germain was named after the Comte de Saint Germain, no he wasn’t a cheese, he was born in 1712 and died in 1784. The Comte de Saint Germain was the son of Francis II Rakoczi the prince of Transylvania. His father actually claimed that his son had passed away at the age of four in order to protect him from the Hapsburg Dynasty. Then on his deathbed, he told the true identity of his son who hadn’t died but in fact was a wealthy, well-educated member of the royal entourage.

Because he had to keep his identity secret the Comte de Saint Germain used to tell wild stories about his life like he was 500 years old or that he was a prophet and I love this one, he claimed that he was the reincarnation of William Shakespeare. Who knows how many of the stories are true?  History does tell us that he was a close friend of King Louis XV, who kept him so close by his side at the palace in Versailles as to raise the jealousy of other members of the royal court.