St. Germain Champagne Cocktail
Elegant St. Germain Champagne Cocktail features a simple combination of brut champagne, St. Germain liqueur, and a splash of fresh lemon juice. Garnish it with a torched rosemary for an amazing aromatic experience!
What better way to celebrate holidays than with an easy elderflower champagne cocktail? This simple cocktail is elegant, sophisticated, and still plenty of fun.
The flavor of this St. Germain champagne cocktail is so much better than most other classic champagne cocktails. While a classic champagne cocktail has a sugar cube and a touch of bitters for flavor, this cocktail has a beautiful herbal/floral flavor from the delicious elderflower liqueur.
A splash of fresh lemon juice creates the most perfect balance between the champagne and sweet St. Germain, making every sip fresh and delightful.
With just three simple ingredients, this is a fabulous cocktail to celebrate New Year’s Eve, or really any other holiday! It’s not a stressful drink to whip up at all. With just three ingredients and a garnish, it will take 5 minutes before you enjoy it.
How to Make a St. Germain Champagne Cocktail
- Start off by combining the St. Germain and lemon juice in a champagne flute. Then, add the club soda. Also, keep in mind that if you want your drink to be even crisper and colder, you can chill the champagne flutes prior to pouring!
- Next, pour the champagne into the flute. Pour just a little bit at a time, otherwise you’ll end up with a bubbly mess on your countertop.
- For an unforgettable garnish that elevates this cocktail even more, consider toasting your rosemary sprig. Simply torch some of the rosemary ends until aromatic using a kitchen torch. Drop the toasted rosemary sprig into the flute with the cocktail, and enjoy!
What does St. Germain elderflower liqueur taste like?
St. Germain is a French elderflower liqueur. It has a subtle delicate floral and herbal aroma and flavor. It it a sweet liqueur, but goes very well with many other liquors and flavors. It doesn’t overpower cocktails, but rather enhances them and adds some lovely floral notes.
Since it is rather sweet, be careful when using it with other sweet ingredients and be considerate about how much you add. Due to the sweetness of the liqueur, I often use it instead of simple syrup or at least cut the amount of simple syrup in half.
What kind of champagne should I use?
For the best balance of flavor, use brut champagne. Brut champagne is slightly less sweet than extra dry champagne, and much less sweet than dry champagne. Since you will be using a sweet St. Germain liqueur, you don’t want the champagne to be too sweet, otherwise the cocktail will taste far too sugary.
If you don’t have the option to use champagne, use dry prosecco. Prosecco is usually less sweet than champagne, and it also has fruity and floral hints of flavor as a delicious bonus!
Why should I torch rosemary as a garnish?
This is an amazingly aromatic trick I learned from one of the seasoned bartenders I used to work with. There are many cocktails out there that go well with rosemary flavors and benefit from the bold scent.
When you lightly torch rosemary, it releases a lot of aroma that fills the room and stays around the cocktail glass. While taking a sip, you will breathe in the aroma, and it will enhance the overall flavor of the cocktail!
Ingredient Tips and Substitutions
- St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur – The star of the show! This liqueur is wonderfully floral and aromatic without being overwhelming, which is why is pairs with dry champagne so famously. Don’t substitute this ingredient with any other liqueur, as the results simply won’t be the same.
- Lemon Juice – For the best flavor, you must use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Champagne – When choosing a bottle of champagne, try to be a bit selective. While you don’t necessarily need a top shelf bottle, avoid cheaper bottles. Remember that the quality of your champagne really determines the quality of the cocktail as a whole.
More Champagne Cocktail Recipes
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St. Germain Champagne Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
- 1/4 oz lemon juice
- 3 oz champagne
- 1 oz club soda or seltzer
- 1 rosemary sprig
Instructions
- Combine St. Germain and lemon juice in a champagne flute and add club soda.
- Top it all off with champagne, pouring a little bit at a time because champagne bubbles rise rapidly. (Pour some and stop to let the bubbles recede, then pour it some more.)
Toasted Rosemary Garnish (optional):
- Use a kitchen torch to gently torch some of the rosemary ends until aromatic.
- Drop the toasted rosemary sprig into the champagne flute with the cocktail.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in December 2021.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
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