Oh hi there. Apologies for the one week absence of your weekly guide to drinking. I was indisposed last week since Sharkbait 2.0 decided to show up last Wednesday. The family is all home and healthy. It’s certainly been an adjustment for sure. Not just for us, but especially for Sharkette since she now has to deal with a little brother. She seems to be adapting well so far at least.
Given that the last time this happened, I celebrated with some champagne (as one does). So it was only natural that I do it again. I know I should have used my library of cocktail books to find a drink this week but since we’ve basically outsourced everything else we’ve needed to do this week, I didn’t feel too guilty about outsourcing drink searching and selection to the general internet. What I ended up finding was a spin on the classic French 75, called the French 77. It seems easy to make (a huge plus this week) and we have a bottle of champagne that Mrs. Sharkbait can finally enjoy (in very limited quantities). So it seemed like a no brainer to make this one this week:
French 77
1 oz. Elderflower Liqueur
.5 oz. Lemon Juice
4 oz. Sparkling Wine
Lemon Twist garnish
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add elderflower liqueur and lemon juice and shake for 10-15 seconds. Strain into a champagne flute and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with lemon twist.
The nose is a pretty good mix. It’s light on the elderflower with hints of lemon and some champagne aromas in there too. Overall fairly soft, and not intimidating
Oh now this is smooth. It starts out with a mix of light sweetness and citrus-y sour, and really maintains dominance most of the entire way of the sip. They work so well and are so prominent that you actually miss the bubbles from the champagne. Those bubbles really do add a nice mouth feel to the drink itself.
About the time you notice the bubbles, the flavor of the champagne comes in. Granted I wasn’t using the best quality champagne here, but the dryness of the base spirit really work well. It takes the elderflower sweetness and the sour lemon flavors down a bit, and keeps them from overpowering. It also leaves just a touch of a lingering aftertaste. Not bad, but it’s there. I’m curious to see if that is a result of the champagne quality vs. the inherent qualities of the champagne itself.
The finish, as mentioned before, is a mixture of the elderflower, lemon and the champagne. Only the champagne lingers, and even then, it isn’t a bad thing that it takes it’s time leaving your taste buds alone. It’s crisp and refreshing, and a great summer drink, celebration cocktail, or if you just wanna indulge yourself and pop a bottle of champagne for no reason.
(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)
Sharkette’ll enjoy being a big sister. Eventually.
Congrats, dude, all the best.
I’m here at the lovely Hampton Suites in Beaumont (CA) and while I was waiting to get on the elevator two of the five people getting off said “sorry!” as they emerged. I wish I’d had the presence of mind to respond “Wait, why are you apologizing? What did you do to that elevator?”
There’s a place called Millet’s Cafe in Beaumont that is supposed to have good Filipino food. I haven’t tried it, but my neighbor recommends it, and she is Pinoy.
Is that where VacuuCon is being held this year?
Pretty obvious there’s a strong Canadian contingent this year.
I heard it sucks
Congratulations to all the Sharks on the new addition to the aquarium! Sharkette will be fine, especially when she realizes she has a lifetime of being the boss in front of her!1
So we still can’t edit? I’m predicting this wonky site will be a laff riot the first day of the season/ family reunion
The stupid bit is that on occasion it allows to edit comments, the problem is that it happens rarely and without any discernable pattern. As for the first day of the proper non-footy footy, it’s going to be amusing how the site starts to buckle under the strain of the (easily avoidable) extra posts clarifying/editing the (increasingly drunken) DFO’s thoughts 😀
So, are you gonna need a bigger boat now?
Yes Very
Wow, congratulations Mrs. Sharkbait and (presumed) father Sharkbait!
Seriously, that great news! Welcome Sharkbait 2.0!
Thanks!!
Sam Darnold understands the Kyle Shannahan offense?
They just throwing a crushed up handful of Nilla Wafers every down?
This sounds light and refreshing, perfect for summer.
& congratulations on the new addition!!
Congrats, mate! I’ll raise a glass of the good stuff (Glenlivet 25) in honour of Sharkie 2.0 and Mrs. Sharkbait. An’ a couple of glasses of the cheaper stuff (Macallan double cask 15 or 18? ought to be enough) in yours 🙂
Slight change of plans – good stuff has been drunk accompanied by a nice cigar. The Macallan’s in the house and since it be raining over here, I decided to make the executive decision to replace it with home made
rocket fuelrakiya (plum + pear, triple distilled to ~88ABV, with some slices of fruit to bring the aroma back up). For the record, the still that birthed it was probably my favourite pandemic project 😀You built your own still? Are you sure you’re Bulgarian/ Irish, and not Appalachian/ Redneck?
.. you realize that making your own booze is actually rather popular in Eastern Europe (in general) and the old country in particular? In fact, it’s so popular – basically every village (let alone town) has a still you can book (for a small fee) if you can’t be bothered to make your own? In fact, the practice is so widespread, during the active season, you can buy alcohol purity testing kits, so you can see if you didn’t take care of the methanol properly (basically, maintain ~65 degrees SCIENCE!/149 Fuuuuuuu!) until it stops dripping, then you get to the good stuff ~78C/173F. Ah, and don’t throw out the methanol, since it makes for good winter windshield wiper fluid.
Nice! I have about a finger left of Pappy 15 from a number of years ago I think I’m gonna break out to celebrate being done procreating.
Congraaaaaaats!
This appears much less blackout-inducing than the gin makes the traditional French 75.