Candles + Cocktails: Elderflower + Rose Amaretto Sour
We bet you were expecting some sort of intensely floral and sweet cocktail concoction to pair with our Rosewater + Hibiscus candle, right? By now you should know that St. Brown & Co. doesn’t do over-the-top, but rather understated and elegant. That’s why we decided to take another classic cocktail and infuse it with a slight floral back-end to create the Elderflower + Rose Amaretto Sour.
Reminiscent of The Godfather, the Amaretto Sour is perhaps one of the simplest and most satisfying cocktails. Its forward sweetness with a mid-taste pucker of sour make the perfect base to add in a little floral note to pay homage to our Rosewater + Hibiscus candle. A traditional Amaretto Sour is donned with a frothy egg-white top, but we decided to leave that out of this particular recipe. You’re always welcome to add it in if you want to impress your guests or just try it out for yourself!
Here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the recipe.
What You’ll Need
- Amaretto (we recommend Disaronno)
- Elderflower + Rose cordial (Belvoir is the brand we used)
- Fresh lemons
- Lazzaroni Amaretto Cherries (we promise they’re worth it)
What You’ll Do
- Squeeze the juice of half a lemon—this should yield about half an ounce of fresh lemon juice.
- Pour 3 ounces of Amaretto, 0.5 ounces of lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon of Elderflower + Rose cordial into a shaker with ice.
- You know what to do (shake it! In case you didn’t actually know what to do here…)
- Pour shaken drink over ice
- Add 3 Lazzaroni Amaretto Cherries on top
- Serve + Enjoy!
Listen: we know you might think the cherries at the end are non-essential. Or you might think that old-fashioned bright-red maraschino cherries are fine. But the fact is, true luxury is found in every detail. Luxury doesn’t cut corners. And if you opt for maraschino cherries in this Amaretto Sour….well, you’ll be cutting a corner.
Lazzaroni Amaretto cherries are wild, black amarena cherries from the Apulia region in Italy, soaked an Amaretto syrup that balances the tartness of the cherry with the sweetness of Amaretto. They are the type of cherry a whole drink should be centered around. They aren’t just plopped into the drink as a garnish, but deliberately added to complete the drink and create a well-rounded, wholesome experience for whoever imbibes. Moral of the story: don’t skip these cherries.
Another thing to note is that you can make this drink as tart or as sweet as you want by just adjusting the Amaretto-to-lemon juice ratio. We tested about three other ratios ourselves before settling on this one as the perfect blend of sweet and sour, but we know not all tastebuds are created equal!
This cocktail is classy, delicious, and a perfect companion to our Rosewater + Hibiscus candle. Burn the candle to set the mood, make the cocktail to treat yourself (or your guests), and enjoy the fruits of your labor. It’s never too early to reward yourself.