St. Germain - Elderflower Liqueur

St-Germain is a French liqueur produced by the House of Bacardi, made from handpicked elderflower blossoms gathered each spring in the Alpine foothills of France.

The harvest window is narrow, lasting only a few weeks between late April and early June, and the flowers must be collected by hand and pressed within hours to preserve their delicate aromatic compounds.

The liqueur is blended with eau-de-vie, cane sugar, and water to produce a pale gold liquid with an intensely floral, lightly tropical character. St-Germain became a bartender staple in the early 2000s and integrates readily into cocktails.

It works with Champagne and sparkling wine, with gin or vodka in a simple long drink, or stirred into white wine as an aperitif. The bottle, styled to evoke early twentieth century Parisian apothecary design, has become a recognizable fixture behind bars globally.

At 20 percent alcohol, it can be used generously without throwing a drink off balance.