Lillet Blanc Champagne Cocktail

"Wine can be considered with good reason as the most healthful and the most hygienic of all beverages", or so said Louis Pasteur in the late 1800s. You probably remember Pasteur from elementary school as the inventor of the first rabies vaccine as well as the process known as pasteurization. Tonic wines such as Lillet were seen by Pasteur as a health elixir and thus became quite popular at the time.

Fast forward to 2020 - I’ve had a bottle of Lillet Blanc in my fridge for a few months and I’ve been stumped as to what to do with it. We all know ’m a fan of a champagne cocktail so I figured I’d throw something together and hope it tasted ok. I grabbed my Lillet as well as a few other standbys: gin, st. germaine and fresh lemon juice. I shook it up (shook it real good), topped with bubbles and to my amusement and delight it was refreshing and delicious.

Yield: two moderately sized cocktails or one jumbo cocktail

Ingredients

1 ounce gin

1 ounce Lillet Blanc

1 ounce St. Germaine

3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

Shake above ingredients until chilled and well combined. Strain into two cocktail glass and top with champagne.