Good day, and welcome to Friday. Things are starting to look brighter (both physically and metaphorically) now that spring is finally here. The sun is out longer and kids will hopefully be eligible for a covid vaccine soon. Let’s keep the good vibes going today shall we?

Being that it is spring, I wanted to either find or make a drink that was light, and seasonally appropriate. a friend of mine told me about a spin on an old fashioned he had been drinking a lot of lately: The Elder Fashioned*. HE described it to me as “floral” and a “good spring drink”. Sounds like exactly what I need in my life right now. Let’s make it!

*The link was passed on to me from my friend. He uses the recipe from the book “The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore”, so if you happen to have that book, the recipe may be slightly different

2 oz. Gin
2 oz. St Germain
2 dashes Orange Bitters

Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into a double Rocks glass ice

the nose is clean, and fruit forward. The orange garnish adds to the citrus the bitters bring to the scent. Going back a few more times, I can start to pick out the various notes the gin brings to the table. Mostly the juniper, but I get slight hints of coriander. which is surprising as I’ve never smelled that in a gin before. Then again, this drink is half gin, and half elderflower, so that might be making different scents come out. Either way, I like it. It smells…fresh and bright, and you definitely know you’re about to sip on some gin from this aroma.

The initial impression I get is: cold, sweet, and strong. The combination the equally poured base and liqueur give is a pleasant mixture. The elderflower does a tremendous job in preventing the gin from completely taking over, while the gin keeps the elderflower from being cloyingly sweet. Which I was slightly worried about given the aforementioned equal parts of elderflower. That balance carries through the rest of the sip. There is a hint of orange and elderflower that lingers after the fact, but it dissipates fairly quickly. This a very easy drinking cocktail. Almost goes down a little too easy.

For this, I used my normal go to gin: Gordons. I would be tread lightly if you wanted to experiment with flavored gins here. The beauty in this is the simplicity. Introducing too many flavors may break the balance and veer the flavor profile into something less desirable. If I were to go flavored, I would probably go with a subtly spicy gin, like a peppercorn gin. That way you can keep the flavors that make this great, but adds a little something underneath. An orange gin might work, but that with the bitters and garnish might push it over the edge. If you want to try that, I definitely recommend not using an orange peel for the garnish, but the suggested grapefruit instead.

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