Recipe: Elixir de Cognac

Cognac’s naturally spicy and fruity notes make it an ideal mixer for cocktails. Lemon and orange juices particularly encourage cognac’s citrus flavour profile. Today, more and more mixologists are reviving cognac-based cocktails with their own modern twists.

At home, you can take cognac out of the snifter and mix up your own cognac cocktail. The recipe for Elixir de Cognac, which comes courtesy of H. Joseph Ehrmann of Elixir in San Francisco, calls for pineapple gum syrup, which can be found at some specialty stores and online at Small Hand Foods.

Elixir de Cognac

1.5 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac
.5 oz Crème de Cassis
.5 oz Small Hand Foods Pineapple Gum Syrup
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz of egg white

In a mixing glass, add all ingredients and dry shake for 5 seconds. Add ice and hard shake for 10 seconds. Strain over ice in a double old-fashioned glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Cognac Cocktails Revived

Mixologists are always devising delicious and innovative libations with cognac. Here, a few places to savour cognac in all its glory:

Seasons at Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco
Mixologist Oliver Lee takes a sweet approach with cognac hot chocolate, garnished with house-made marshmallows and gold leaf.

Culina, Modern Italian at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
Culina’s cognac cocktail combines Hennessy VSOP, Grand Marnier, chai tea, pomegranate mix and lemon juice, and is served with a garnish of dry fig and raisins.

Le Bar at Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris
Bar manager Maxime Hoerth serves up L’Evidence, the Hotel’s signature version of the historic French 75 cocktail, made with Chambord to highlight its fruit essence.

Recipe courtesy of H. Joseph Ehrmann, proprietor and mixologist at Elixir in San Francisco.