Tara Feely, brand ambassador for Chambord was at the bar last night, having a nice salad and a glass of wine when our beloved bartender Daisy Crowder dropped what he was doing and started to write down a recipe Tara was giving him, a drink recipe he's been trying to get for a while. Daisy first tasted the cocktail at a discussion group he participated with other local bartenders to use Chambord as an ingredient in Cocktails.
Every bartender knows Chambord, the blackberry and raspberry liqueur made in France. We know the bottle, designed to look like it just rolled off the time-machine from Charlemagne's hands (or like a Christmas-tree ornament), always on the back-bar (because it doesn't fit most wells). And we sure know to reach for the purple and gold ball with a cross on top to make a French Martini. To most bartenders, Chambord is thought of as a mixer. The key word on the discussion Daisy joined is "ingredient". When the word "mixer" is used to describe bar ingredients, the overall respect for the craft goes down immediately, and the underlying idea is that you have some cheap booze that needs to be cut with anything you can find.
Chambord's sweet berry taste can cut many strong tasting booze but it is as a piece of a well-balanced act that the liqueur really shines. I admit when Daisy showed me the recipe I was skeptical. I never thought the delicate taste of green tea could live up to basil or a powerhouse like lime juice, and a vodka base doesn't attract many a respectable mixologist's attention, but in the right proportion, everything comes together very gracefully. "I couldn't think of something better to drink in the summer" Daisy said, and the drink surely is refreshing. I have a feeling he'll be making lots of these.
Recipe adapted from the original by bartender Chris Lamb from Proof on Main:
1 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz green tea
4 leaves of basil
1/2 oz lime juice
1 oz Chambord
Bruise the basil, mix all ingredients except for the Chambord in a cocktail shaker full of ice, shake it and strain into a highball full of ice. Pour the Chambord on top.
