Raise a glass and toast “Vive La France!” July 14th marks, for me, not only the national holiday of France, but also a damned good reason to broaden my taste buds from my summer Gin and Tonic to include a cocktail that my D’Englere relatives would surely be proud.
"The Collier Ouest"
In 1872, two brothers by the name of Paul and Raymond Lillet, launched a distillery called “Lillet Frères”. The wine culture was booming in Bordeaux, thanks to technical progress and transportation developments and in 1887, the apéritif Lillet was born. This blend of fruit liqueurs and wines were selected only from the most prestigious of merchants. The key ingredient to giving Lillet its distinctive flavor is quinine; originating from the bark of the Peruvian “kina kina” or “cinchona” tree. It is masterfully blended with sweet oranges from the South of Spain, bitter oranges from Haiti, and green oranges from Morocco.
In 1915 the prohibition of Absinthe, accelerated the popularity of Lillet and in the following twenty years, many marketing campaigns were developed to support the product, including Roby’s famous poster.
Lillet has been favored by numerous sophisticated palates, including the Duchess of Windsor, patrons of New York’s Oyster Bar in Grand Central and the commonly recognized “James Bond” who prefers “The Vesper“.
Lillet cocktails are frequently served on the rocks with a twist of orange in a short glass or strained into a martini glass. As well, I found this delicious sounding recipe on Martha’s site for a Lillet-Basil cocktail. Whatever your preference, CW has you covered in glassware.
Want to know more? Post the cocktail or bottled elixir you want us to blog about next. Cheers.
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