Summer Cocktail Series: # 1: The Amelia Cocktail

Summer

Fresh ripe juicy blackberries

Elderflower St. Germain liqueur

Warm gentle breezes

Porch sittin’

A few of your best friends

What do all of these have in common? The Amelia cocktail– named after Amelia Earhart is a wonderful, berrylicious,  bright and fresh cocktail that comes together quite easily in a cocktail shaker. The end result is a gorgeous purple-maroon colored beauty. Sorry guys- this is a girly girl drink.

Summer lends itself to our creative senses when it comes to sipping on something refreshing, so I’m starting a new category called “Summer Cocktail Series” to get us in the mood. The star of this beautiful libation utilizes fresh blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and St. Germain liqueur. St. Germain is a liqueur made from elderflower and it pairs nicely with berries and lemon because of it’s citrus notes.

Mix this up ahead of time and find a pretty glass container and invite your BFF’s over for some lazy sipping on the front porch. Serve it in coupe wineglasses if you have them, (or a martini glass will do) placed on a pretty serving tray for a style reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour. You can multiply the recipe and keep it in the fridge in a pretty glass container of your choice so easy pouring and seconds will not distract you from your lazy porch sitting-slow sipping-catching up on neighborhood gossip-entertaining duties. Serve it alongside simple hors d’oeuvres and you will never leave the porch or pool side. Enjoy~

The Amelia Cocktail

recipe: adapted slightly from Nordstrom Bar

yield: two cocktails

12 fresh large plump blackberries

1 Tbsp. super fine sugar

2.5 oz. vodka

2 oz. St. Germaine liqueur

1 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice

ice to fill cocktail shaker

Garnish: fresh blackberries, mint, super fine sugar for rimming glasses

Chill glasses ahead of time in the fridge or place ice in each glass to fill then fill with enough water to fill each glass. Right before serving, dump out the ice cold water before pouring the cocktail.

Prepare cocktail: In a cocktail shaker place the berries and sugar. Muddle the berries and sugar (with a cocktail muddler or end of a large wooden spoon) until broken down and juicy. Add the vodka, St. Germain, lemon juice and enough ice to fill the shaker. Cap the shaker and shake vigourosly about 20 times.

Prepare glasses: Remove chilled glasses from fridge (or dump out the ice water from glasses and wipe dry). Swipe a small piece of lemon around the rims of glasses and then dip the glasses in sugar (place sugar on a small plate for easy rimming). Strain the cocktail into the glasses and serve garnished with fresh mint and blackberries.