The Bavette’s Lillet Rosé Martini
Chapter 5: Cocktails & Desserts
If you have spent any time at the great American steakhouses, you know pacing is everything. You do not begin a high-cholesterol, butter-basted marathon with a heavy bourbon drink that exhausts the palate before the beef even hits the table. You begin with this. Engineered for the grand opening of Chicago's Bavette's Bar & Boeuf, it is a brilliantly crisp, floral apéritif designed specifically to slice through the incoming fat. Measure down to the quarter-ounce, freeze your coupe, and for the love of God, throw the lemon peel away after expressing the oils. The elegance is in what you taste, not what clutters the glass.
Before you start
Make the simple syrup.
Combine equal parts white sugar and hot water by weight. Stir until fully dissolved and allow to cool completely before mixing.
Ingredients
- Lillet Rosé2 oz
- vodka1/2 oz
- fresh lemon juice3/4 oz
- St-Germain elderflower liqueur1/2 oz
- simple syrup1/2 oz
- lemon peel1 large
Method
- 01
Chill your glassware.
Retrieve a 5- to 7-ounce coupe glass from the deep freeze, or fill it with crushed ice and cold water while you mix.
- 02
Build the cocktail.
In a Boston shaker, combine the Lillet Rosé, vodka, lemon juice, St-Germain, and simple syrup.
- 03
Shake violently.
Fill the shaker to the brim with large, solid ice cubes. Seal and shake aggressively for 12 to 15 seconds until the tin is painfully cold to the touch and frosted over.
- 04
Double strain.
Dump the ice water from your coupe. Pour the cocktail through both a Hawthorne strainer and a fine-mesh conical strainer into the glass, ensuring no ice shards compromise the silky texture.
- 05
Express the oils and discard the peel.
Hold the lemon peel skin-side down over the drink and pinch the edges to mist the invisible citrus oils across the surface. Discard the peel immediately and serve.
Notes
Respect the ice.
Brittle, hollow ice from a refrigerator door will shatter during shaking, over-diluting the cocktail and rendering it watery. Use solid, one-inch cube ice.
Source the right vodka.
The authoritative recipe specifies Hangar One. Its grape base creates a harmonious chemical bridge with the Bordeaux-grape base of the Lillet Rosé. If unavailable, use another highly textured wheat or grape vodka, but avoid harsh grain vodkas.