“Beware of the horses! They’re… unpredictable”, warns Marc Mirabel, President of the local operations responsible for harvesting the elderflower (and later, the small purplish-red berries of this fruit bush) in the fertile lands of the Ardèche—located in the heart of the mountains of the same name in south-eastern France.  Black elder grows wild throughout the region and can be found in abundance at this equestrian center in Saint-Didier-sous-Aubenas, where wild horses seek shade and protection from mosquitoes under its bushy branches.

Hello to Spring

It’s early May and the sun is shining brightly in the azure-blue sky, with not a cloud in sight . This morning, the team at St-Germain are celebrating the start of the annual elderflower harvest. For them, the elderflower season is a magical, crucial moment, as the white flowers—the precious raw material for the St-Germain liqueur—are ready to be picked.

“Spring is everything for St-Germain”, says Franck Dedieu, the brand’s ambassador. The flower harvests take place over four to six weeks: work begins on the plains, where it’s warmer (so the trees bloom earlier), and ends at an altitude of almost 1,000 metres, in the mountains, around mid-June. This is known as “staggered flowering”. For the French portion of the harvest (the rest of the flowers come from Eastern Europe, notably Hungary and Croatia), this period is important.

Dedieu gently shakes a branch. A small cloud of yellow pollen escapes into the air. This is the sign that the flowers have reached the desired stage of maturity and are at peak bloom—they need to be picked as soon as possible. Later, round berries similar to blueberries will appear, perfect for making marvelous jams. “They’re delicious, but less useful to us,” says Dedieu with a smile.

For the Love of Flowers

“We’ve just kicked off a race against time. It’s a real emergency,” explains Eric Tourrain, a master-liquorist and trained oenologist. Elderflower must be processed within ten hours of picking otherwise it oxidizes and loses its flavour. In this case, the maceration stage takes place in the picturesque setting of Château Clément, perched at the top of a winding road in the commune of Vals-les-Bains (known for its historic thermal baths praised by the courts of the kings of France.) Converted into a luxury hotel, the château serves as a base camp for the St-Germain team for the duration of the harvest.

Tourrain explains that the flowers are detached from the stems, leaving only the tiny petals and stamens, where the essential oils are concentrated. The plants are then immersed in vats containing water heated to 55°C, the ideal temperature for extracting the flowers’ fragrance without cooking or burning them. After an hour’s infusion, this golden (the colour comes from the pollen) and surprisingly tangy juice is filtered, then frozen, before heading to Fécamp, Normandy, where it will be transformed into a liqueur. Anecdotally, each bottle of St-Germain contains up to 1,000 elderflowers. At the manufacturing plant, sugar, neutral alcohol and a touch of brandy are added for texture and roundness—four ingredients and that’s it. There’s no other secret to St-Germain, which uses no preservatives, stabilizers or artificial flavours.

An American in Paris 

Over time, the recipe has been modernized to satisfy a greater volume of production, but it hasn’t changed since the launch of the brand founded in 2007 and acquired by the Bacardi Group in 2013. Admiring its refined bottle with curves and gilding reminiscent of the Art Deco style, one might think that St-Germain is straight out of another era. But it hasn’t even come of age yet!

The founder, American Rob Cooper, a lover of France and its history, deliberately played on these codes. In fact, the name St-Germain is a direct homage to the mythical Saint-Germain-des-Prés district, a mecca for Parisian intellectual and cultural life in the 20th century. “He wanted to encapsulate French elegance, the Paris of cafés, the Paris of films, the Paris of song,” says Dedieu.

For the record, Cooper came up with the idea for the spirit in 2002, after tasting an elderflower-based cocktail in a London bar. It was love at first taste, and five years of research and development later, St-Germain hit the market. It enjoyed its first wave of popularity with bartenders, who quickly adopted it, as it adds a fruity, floral “je-ne-sais-quoi” (we detect notes of pear, citrus, tropical fruit and honeysuckle) to a cocktail.

Today, the St-Germain team, including experienced ambassadors and mixologists, is on a mission to conquer our home bar and prove just how versatile this liqueur is, not to mention how well it pairs with a host of spirits, from gin (in a gin and tonic) to tequila (in a Margarita).

But perhaps the easiest way to discover it is in the form of a spritz, made with St-Germain stretched with Prosecco and sparkling water, garnished with lemon zest and a seasonal (edible) flower. And while enjoying yet another glass of this refreshing cocktail in the Ardèche countryside – where not a cloud has yet marred the azure-blue sky – it’s easy to be convinced.

RECIPES

St-Germain Margarita

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 oz of St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

• 1.5 oz of Patrón Silver Tequila

• 3/4 oz of fresh lime juice

• Lime wedge for garnish

Instructions

1. Combine the St-Germain, tequila and lime juice in a shaker.

2. Add ice and shake vigorously until it is nicely chilled.

3. Strain into a glass filled with ice.

4. Garnish with a lime wedge.

St-Germain Spritz

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz of St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

• 2 oz of Martini Prosecco

• 2 oz of sparkling water

• Lemon zest

• Edible flowers (optional)

Instructions

1. Pour St-Germain into a tall glass filled with ice.

2. Add in prosecco and sparkling water.

3. Mix everything well.

4. Add lemon zest and garnish the cocktail. Garnish with edible flowers, if desired.

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