Germain Canto, mixologist at Bar Louise in Cognac, offers his winter recipe for a Cognac cocktail with notes of tea “Le Terroir” and delivers his interpretation of the Cognac region.
Photo : © Konoisseur / Germain Canto
To create this cognac cocktail, Germain was inspired by his environment in Cognac. The idea behind this creation is to reproduce a fraction of Cognac’s terroir with the verjuice symbolizing the limestone, the syrup of baume de bouteville vinegar recalling the ageing process and the smoked tea characterizing the toasting of the barrels, that is to say, burning the inside of the barrel once it is formed, in order to bring color and aroma to the Cognac.
All the ingredients of the cocktail are local products: the vinegar comes from Cognac grape must, the verjuice comes from a local winegrower as well as the Cognac.
The choice of VSOP Cognac is based on a search for more mellow and slightly woody aromas. A VS would have brought power and an XO would have brought more marked aromas that were not desired for this cocktail. The VSOP remains a nice balance between the two.
Recipe for Le Terroir cognac cocktail by Germain Canto
Ingredients
30ml VSOP Cognac ;
10ml of Bouteville vinegar syrup ;
20ml verjuice ;
40ml smoked black tea;
A slice of grapefruit
A few ice cubes.
Utensils
Decanter;
Long spoon;
Mixing glass;
Cocktail strainer;
Type of glass
Highball
Preparation
Before making this cocktail with cognac, let the smoked black tea infuse in a carafe with the following proportions: 5 grams of tea for 1 liter of cold water. Let it rest for 8 hours in a cool place. This cold infusion extracts the aromas by removing the tannins and bitterness.
Use a mixing glass and add the mix, and the ingredients one by one to finish with the ice cubes. Stir with a spoon for 20 seconds, strain and pour into a highball glass. Add the final touch, a thin slice of grapefruit as a garnish!
About Germain Canto
Photo: Germain Canto – courtesy of agence Clair de Lune
Germain is a passionate entrepreneur who doesn’t do things by halves. He has refined his vision of cocktails behind several bars on the other side of the world. He settled in Cognac by opening the Bar Louise in 2012. His mantra: “reintroduce Cognac in all the classic cocktails or in his own creations”.
Meet him at Bar Louise, 1 Pl. François 1er, 16100 Cognac
Website: https://barlouise.com/
Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.