Wine Cocktails
This would be the brief introduction to our selection of delicious, exotic, unique wine cocktails. This would be the brief introduction to our selection of delicious, exotic, unique wine cocktails.
The Américain
1/2 oz. brandy or Cognac
sugar cube
bitters
Pechette or Toriamour
We’re calling this easy-to-make variation on the classic Champagne Cocktail—with a nod in the general direction of Casablanca—The Américain. Sprinkle a sugar cube with a couple dashes of bitters & drop it into a Champagne flute. Add 1/2 oz. of brandy or Cognac (although a touch more can’t do any harm), then fill the flute with Toriamour or Pechette. Add a maraschino cherry for garnish & you’re done.
Après la mort
(Death in the Afternoon)
1 oz. absinthe
Toriamour or Pechette
Our take on Hemingway’s famous “Death in the Afternoon” is as easy to make as the original. Take 1 oz. of absinthe and pour it into a Champagne flute. Pour in some well-chilled Pechette or Toriamour, and enjoy. Hemingway recommended drinking “three to five of these slowly.” I don’t know about that—the Green Fairy has been known to start manifesting herself after about the third one—but I do know that this is the perfect cocktail for taking the edge off a hot summer afternoon or night.
How to Make a Death in the Afternoon
Claro de luna
1 jigger white rum
1 tbsp simple syrup
25 to 30 mint leaves
1 lime
Pechette or Toriamour
Using Pechette or Toriamour takes the well-known mojito into unknown, exotic territory, resulting in a drink that’s both complex & satisfying. Make some simple syrup (a cup of sugar dissolved in a cup of boiling water) and add 15 to 20 mint leaves. Let the mixture cool for about an hour. Put 1 tbsp of the syrup in the bottom of a Collins glass, then add about 10 mint leaves & muddle them. Then fill the glass with ice, add about half a lime’s worth of juice, then a jigger of white rum, and top the whole thing off with Toriamour or Pechette. Stir, add a couple of mint leaves or a lime wedge as garnish if you want, and enjoy.
French 75
1 jigger brandy or Cognac
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
2 dashes simple syrup
Toriamour or Pechette
The French 75 is a simple classic cocktail you can make with either Pechette or Toriamour—but steering away from gin and going with brandy or Cognac instead can make this drink sublime. Fill a shaker with ice, add a jigger of brandy or Cognac, 3/4 oz of fresh lemon juice, and a couple dashes of simple syrup. Shake, strain into an iced Champagne flute, then fill the glass with Toriamour or Pechette. Stir gently.
How to Make a French 75
La Golondrina
2 oz. silver tequila
3/4 oz. Cointreau or
Grand Marnier
3/4 simple syrup
2 limes
Pechette or Toriamour
This is one of those drinks that’ll take you instantly from, “There’s no way this can work” to “Where have you been all my life?” Margaritas have become so commonplace they’re almost a throwaway drink—not this one. Rub lime juice along the rim of a cocktail glass, dip the rim in salt, then fill the glass with ice. Add 2 oz of silver tequila, 3/4 oz of Cointreau or Grand Marnier, 3/4 oz of simple syrup, 1 & a half to 2 limes’ worth of fresh juice (depending on how juicy the limes are), top it off w/Pechette or Toriamour, stir gently, and enjoy.
The Pêche Noir
1 jigger black Irish stout
Pechette
I know some of these cocktails (like, say, La Golondrina) might have seemed a little sketchy, but this one will definitely have you saying, “No way!” It’s super simple to make—the perfect drink for the chill of a fall night. Just pour a jigger of black Irish stout into a Champagne flute, then fill the glass with Pechette. Done. Enjoy.
Peg ’16
1 & 1/2 oz. gin
3/4 oz. elderflower cordial
1/2 lime
Toriamour or Pechette
This sweet, refreshing drink uses Pechette or Toriamour, gin, elderflower cordial, and fresh lime for a cocktail that packs a bigger punch than most of our other offerings. Put 1 & 1/2 oz. of gin and 3/4 oz. of elderflower into a shaker full of ice, give it a good, long shake, and strain into a martini glass. Cut out two lime wedges and squeeze one of them into the glass, then fill the glass with Toriamour or Pechette. Use the other wedge as garnish.
Sicilian
Summer Breeze
1 oz. limoncello
lemon twist
Pechette or Toriamour
This might just be the perfect cocktail for beating the summer heat. Just pour 1 oz. of limoncello liqueur into a chilled Champagne flute & then fill the flute with well-chilled Pechette or Toriamour. Add a lemon twist, if you’d like. The lemon flavor is so different with the peach in the Pechette & the raspberry in the Toriamour that it’s worth trying with both. But you’ll want to enjoy this drink as cold as possible. The colder it is, the more delicious—and refreshing—it becomes.
Sicilian
Berry Breeze
1 oz. limoncello
about 25 frozen raspberries
Toriamour or Pechette
This variation on the Sicilian Summer Breeze (above) seriously ups the fruit quotient. Start by tossing a palm-full of frozen raspberries into a cocktail glass. Pour 1 oz. of limoncello on top of them, then fill the glass with Toriamour or Pechette. Voila! (Add a twist of lemon, if you’d like.)
Sweetness & Light
1 tbsp. lemon sorbet
1 tsp. Rose’s or fresh lime juice
Pechette or Toriamour
Like the Sicilian Summer & Berry Breezes (above), the Sweetness & Light is another summer cocktail you can make with either Pechette or Torimour. This one will appeal directly to your sweet tooth, but the frisky play of all the citrus & fruit flavors helps keep the sugar in its place. Put 1 spoonful of lemon sorbet in the bottom of a Champagne flute and pour about 1 teaspoon of Rose’s or fresh lime juice on top, then fill the glass with some well-chilled Toriamour or Pechette. Stir quickly, garnish in whatever way the spirit moves you, and enjoy.
The VC Mimosa
2 oz. fresh-squeezed
orange juice
1/2 tbsp. Grenadine
1/2 tbsp. Cointreau or
Grand Marnier
Toriamour or Pechette
Mimosas are easy. But prepare it with a little more care—and with Pechette or Toriamour—and you can kick the Sunday-brunch staple up a couple of notches to a great anytime cocktail. The trick is the proportions. Toriamour & Pechette are lower in alcohol than Champagne or Prosecco so this works best if you reverse the usual quantities, more in the direction of a British Buck’s Fizz. So: Fill a flute 1/3 full of fresh-squeezed OJ. Add 1/2 tbsp of Grenadine and 1/2 tbsp of Cointreau or Grand Marnier. Then fill the glass with Pechette or Toriamour. Simple, right?
How to Make a VC Mimosa
