bicyclette

3/4 oz St. Germain (St. Elder)
3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a flute glass, and top with sparkling wine (Gloria Ferrer).

Two Saturdays ago, it was my birthday; after I returned home from my shift at the bar, Andrea surprised me with Thai take out in the kitchen followed by cake and sparkling wine on our deck. For a cocktail to follow, I saved some of the sparkling wine and recalled a recipe that I had spotted in the Hawthorne bar bible the night before called the Bicyclette. This was a very different one from Jamie Boudreau's 2007 La Bicyclette, and it was closer to the Pink Penelope but with different citrus. With the great combination of Campari and elderflower liqueur, I was game to give this one a try.

The drink appeared in a blogger's post about the bar in late 2015, and the bar bible provided the menu subtitle containing the wise words of "Love is a bicycle, fall off & ride again." Indeed, that subtitle sounded like it could be found in the "Letter to a Young Bartender" that Jackson Cannon wrote during his tenure at the Hawthorne. Here, the Bicyclette began with grapefruit and bitter orange aromas. Next, sparkling wine and orange notes on the sip pedaled off into grapefruit and floral flavors on the swallow.