Here at Hand Crafted Drinks Magazine we like to have a bit of fun, especially when the news agenda is, well, a bit gloomy at the moment.
So, here are two Hallowe’en Cocktail recipes created by Warwickshire-based liqueur producer, St Maur: the Vampire Cocktail and the Daylight Cocktail – with garlic to help ward off the vampires!
The Vampire Cocktail
St Maur’s fun inspiration for the Count who lives in the Carpathian mountains,,,
It is basically a gin sour sweetened with maraschino liqueur, but the creators of St Maur replaced the maraschino with their delicious liqueur, which we were lucky enough to sample shortly after St Maur launched.
To make a Vampire first make the drink, a St Maur gin sour: one measure of St Maur, two measures of gin, and the freshly squeezed juice from half a lemon, shaken with ice.
Then place the white of one egg in a cocktail shaker and add ½ a measure of crème de violette, and give the mixture a vigorous dry shake until it stiffens.
Gently float the stiffened, perfumed egg white on the cocktail. Garnish with a vampire’s kiss: a few drops of a blood red mixture made by mixing crème de cassis and sirop de grenadine.
Serve and enjoy while the kids are trick or treating!
The Daylight Martini
The Daylight Martini is a cocktail created uniquely with St Maur, to enjoy at Hallowe’en and as an antidote to the Vampire cocktail.
The Daylight Martini is a drink to be shared on any occasion, perhaps, when you feel the need to summon the protections of folklore against witches, vampires, werewolves, ghouls and ghosts, and perhaps rogue chancellors.
This drink brings the generous elderflower of St Maur, to invoke the protection of the Elder Mother spirit, along with garlic to ward off the evil eye.
You can make this cocktail with a dry gin, but St Maur chose a genever (the ancestor of modern gin) from Amsterdam to go with the St Maur, as a tribute to Abraham Van Helsing, who had a stake in Bram Stoker’s story and who was Dutch and also from Amsterdam.
To make the cocktail place two measures of St Maur, with one measure of Oude Genever (or a dry gin if you prefer) in a Parisien cocktail shaker. Cut half a clove of garlic, peel, remove the tongue and chop finely.
Muddle the garlic in the St Maur and genever. Add ice and shake gently to mix and cool the ingredients. Fine strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a green olive stuffed with garlic, with a wooden spike driven through its heart! Serve on a mirrored tray, just in case…
St Maur is the creation of The Earl and Countess of Yarmouth, William and Kelsey Seymour who first produced it uniquely for their wedding guests at Ragley Hall in Alcester three years ago before deciding to turn it into a full-time family business at the start of lockdown.
The wild blossoms used to make St Maur are hand-picked by William and Kelsey and their friends and family in the shadow of trees which grew when their ancestors were young. The coordinates on the bottles will take you to Ladies Wood in the bucolic Warwickshire countryside and to an elder grove where the elderflowers are picked early summer.
Described as ‘a little drop of England’s heart,’ St Maur follows a family recipe and is a versatile drink, perfect for sipping or mixing. A beautiful aperitif on its own and sublime in brunch and pre-dinner cocktails, any time of the year.
In the less than 18 months since its launch, St Maur won four awards, including The Great Taste Award 2 Star rating; International Spirits Challenge Silver Award; The World Liqueur Awards ‘Best English Floral’ and, most recently, Gold at Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards.
Now, cocktail lovers can book a personal virtual masterclass with self-taught mixologist William, using his St Maur liqueur. There are already several cocktail recipes available on their website, including the brand new English cocktail, infused with Earl Grey tea!
Other recipe ideas can be found here: https://drinkstmaur.com/cocktail-recipes/