Original Recipe: Fireside Fizz

Cold weather season kicked off in the District this weekend with an inch or so of snow.  It didn’t really turn the city into a winter wonderland, but it did mark a shift to colder temperatures.  That means we have fire in the fireplace for the first time this year.  I love a good fire on a winter weekend night, and to celebrate I decided to concoct a new cocktail.  The result:  the Fireside Fizz.

Now, when I think fire my mind often goes to whiskey, and if that’s your speed you should check out my Decorator’s Drink from my last post if you haven’t already.  This time, I wanted to make use of a Douglas fir pine syrup I received as a gift recently, and I didn’t want to use a liquor that would overpower the the infused pine taste.

So I turned to St.-Germain, that elderflower liqueur that supplies a sweet floral taste, and Suze, an aperitif with an earthy flavor, both of which I thought would complement a pine syrup nicely.  To balance out the sweetness, I also used freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I shook these over ice and strained into a coupe and, for a fizzy finish, I topped it with sparkling wine.  For garnish, I used a part of the lemon rind, a freshly cut sprig of rosemary, and frozen cranberries.  And boom, I had a new fireside companion:

A post shared by Geoffrey Wyatt (@capitalcocktails) on Dec 9, 2017 at 2:02pm PST

Ultimately, despite my efforts not to bury the pine flavor, it was quite subtle in the finished product.  But I went back at sampled the syrup by itself and, even alone, the pine taste is not strong.  Nevertheless, the drink was delicious, and the rosemary brings up the pine flavor at least a little bit.

Here is the recipe:

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Fireside Fizz

The Fireside Fizz is the perfect drink to enjoy by the fire on the first snowfall of the year, with floral, pine and citrus flavors.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Champagne Cocktail

Prep Time 7 minutes minutes

Total Time 7 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cocktail

Calories 275kcal

Author Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

• 1 oz. St.-Germain
• 1/2 oz. Suze
• 1/2 oz. Douglas fir pine syrup I used June Taylor
• 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• sparkling wine
• lemon rind
• rosemary sprig
• frozen cranberries

Instructions

• Combine the St.-Germain, Suze, pine syrup, and lemon juice with ice in a shaking tin and shake vigorously.
• Strain into a coupe.
  
• Top with sparkling wine.
• Garnish with the lemon rind, rosemary, and cranberries.
  

Enjoy!