Summer Loving: Try the All-Purpose Flower Cocktail

Antonia Whyatt | July 2nd, 2024

Photo: Jonathan Chovancek

With the warm weather approaching, it’s time to up your entertaining game. Here’s a floral-inspired sip that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, courtesy of Canadian bartender, mixologist and sommelier Lauren Mote.

All-Purpose Flower Cocktail

Ingredients:
1½ ounces (45 mL) PATRÓN Silver Tequila
¾ ounce (22.5 mL) Lillet Rose (or other pink vermouth/aromatized wine)
¾ ounce (22.5 mL) fresh orange juice
¾ ounce (22.5 mL) All-Purpose Flower Cordial*
1 dash Bittered Sling Orange & Juniper Bitters

Garnish: Fresh edible flowers, fancy orange twist

Method: To a shaker filled with cubed ice, add the tequila, vermouth, orange juice, cordial, and bitters. Using some force, shake hard for 10 seconds. Using a small fine-mesh bar sieve to catch the loose ice chips, double strain into a cocktail glass or coupe. For the garnish, attach edible flowers and a fancy orange twist to the glass with a clothes peg.

All-Purpose Flower Cordial

Makes 500 mL (16 ounces)

Ingredients:
200 grams superfine or granulated sugar
70 grams fresh edible flowers (mix as you prefer)
50 grams creamed raw white honey
10.5 grams potato starch powder
3.5 grams malic acid and 3.5 grams citric acid (or lemon juice)
8 ounces (250 mL) cold filtered water

Method: Add the sugar and flowers to an airtight container, press with a muddler, and close the container. Let stand for 24 hours. The next day, add the honey, potato starch, acids (lemon juice), and water. Stir to dissolve. Strain the liquid through a mesh sieve into a sanitized bottle, label with the date, and store in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Excerpted from A Bartender’s Guide to the World: Cocktails and Stories from 75 Places by Lauren Mote and James O. Fraioli. Copyright © 2022 Lauren Mote and James O. Fraioli. Cover and book design by Terri Nimmo. Cover and book photography by Jonathan Chovancek. Published by Appetite by Random House, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

Alluring, Classic, Glamorous: The History of the Martini Cocktail

Shaking Things Up: Cocktails and Libations That Add a Fresh Twist On Familiar Favourites