Build

30 ml Dry gin
20 ml Blackberry eau-de-vie
20 ml Fresh lemon juice
10 ml Simple syrup
15 ml Crème de Mûre (to float, optional)
Garnish: fresh blackberries, lemon wheel

Method

Shake gin, blackberry eau-de-vie, lemon and syrup with ice for 8 seconds. Strain over crushed ice in a rocks glass. Drizzle the crème de mûre slowly across the top (skip if you want it bone-dry). Garnish with fresh blackberries and a lemon wheel. The eau-de-vie does the lifting; the crème adds colour and a touch of sweetness.

Build

15 ml Cherry eau-de-vie (Kirsch)
120 ml Brut Champagne (well chilled)
Garnish: single brandied cherry

Method

Pour the kirsch into the bottom of a chilled flute. Top with well-chilled brut Champagne. Drop a single brandied cherry; the colour is paler than a Kir but the aromatic lift is unmistakable.

Build

45 ml Cherry eau-de-vie (Kirsch)
25 ml Fresh lemon juice
15 ml Rich simple syrup (2:1)
1 fresh egg white (optional but classic)
Garnish: 3 drops Angostura on foam, brandied cherry

Method

Dry-shake kirsch, lemon, syrup and egg white (no ice) for 10 seconds. Add ice and shake hard again for 12 seconds. Double-strain into a chilled coupe. Drop 3 dashes Angostura on the foam and draw through with a pick. Sink a single cherry.

Build

30 ml Cognac
20 ml Mandarin eau-de-vie
20 ml Triple Sec
20 ml Fresh lemon juice
Garnish: orange twist

Method

Shake all four with ice hard for 10 seconds. Double-strain into a chilled coupe. Express an orange twist over the top and drop it in. The mandarin eau-de-vie sharpens the classic Sidecar into something distinctly winter-citrus.

Build

30 ml Mirabelle eau-de-vie (Bertrand)
60 ml Crémant or Prosecco
30 ml Soda water
Garnish: yellow plum slice or apricot

Method

Fill a wine glass with ice. Add the mirabelle eau-de-vie, then top with crémant and soda. Stir once, very gently. Garnish with a slice of yellow plum (mirabelle in season) or a wedge of apricot.

Build

60 ml Rye whisky
15 ml Quince eau-de-vie
20 ml Sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Garnish: brandied cherry

Method

Stir all four with ice in a mixing glass for 25-30 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe. Drop a single brandied cherry into the bottom of the glass. The quince eau-de-vie threads a pale-yellow, almost-perfumed line through the classic rye Manhattan.

Build

45 ml Williams Pear eau-de-vie
20 ml White Crème de Menthe
Garnish: mint sprig, very thin pear slice

Method

Stir pear eau-de-vie and crème de menthe with ice in a mixing glass for 20 seconds. Strain over crushed ice in a rocks glass. Slap a sprig of mint and lay across the surface; tuck a thin pear slice alongside. Cool, summery, dry — the Alsace summer Stinger.

Build

60 ml Dry gin (or vodka)
5 ml Mette Truffle eau-de-vie
10 ml Dry vermouth
Garnish: olive on a pick, or a paper-thin truffle shaving (rare/luxe)

Method

Stir gin (or vodka), truffle eau-de-vie and dry vermouth in a mixing glass with ice for 25 seconds. Strain into a chilled, deeply frozen martini glass. Garnish minimally — a single Castelvetrano olive, or a real truffle shaving if the occasion warrants. Five millilitres of truffle eau-de-vie is enough to perfume the whole drink. Trust the restraint.

Build

60 ml Bertrand Vieille Prune (aged plum eau-de-vie)
5 ml Rich demerara syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters
Garnish: orange peel

Method

Combine prune eau-de-vie, syrup and both bitters in a rocks glass. Add one large ice cube and stir for 30 seconds. Express a strip of orange peel over the surface and drop it in. The oak-aged plum reads almost like cognac — drier, more savoury, deeply Lorraine.

Build

30 ml Dry gin
15 ml Williams Pear eau-de-vie
30 ml Italian bitter (Dolin Bitter)
30 ml Sweet vermouth
Garnish: thin pear slice, orange peel

Method

Stir all four with ice in a mixing glass for 25 seconds. Strain over one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Lay a thin pear slice on the surface and express an orange peel over the top. The pear eau-de-vie lifts the Negroni's heaviness — drier and more aromatic.

Build

15 ml Williams Pear eau-de-vie
120 ml Brut Champagne (or Crémant d'Alsace)
Garnish: thin pear fan

Method

Pour the pear eau-de-vie into the bottom of a chilled flute. Top gently with well-chilled brut Champagne. Slip a thin pear fan into the glass — it perfumes the rim with each sip. Cleaner, drier and far more aromatic than a peach Bellini.