Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, and one of the most well recognized symbols of love is the rose. As precedes their association with love, roses are sold by the dozens for those seeking to curry their lovers favor. This of course means a huge demand for roses – in February, a month where growing seasons are short. This means that there’s a limited number of local roses that are produced, so some flowers are imported (and as living things, require air freight). The added demand means that there are more florists who need to be hired and paid. After all is said and done the price goes way up, and the flowers are expensive.
Flowers Are Expensive
Flowers Are Expensive is a delicate and dainty drink that’s both refreshing and lively. The rose notes of the Empress Gin come out in an elegant flow to meet the round and friendly pops of elderflower from the St. Germain. The lemon pops the brightness of both, and the Asti provides a bouquet of peach and spring flower blossom notes. The end is a sweet and sparkling drink that’s simple but layered in it’s character, and is great for entertaining or simply sitting on your deck and chilling.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
Like all our drinks, we do significant testing to make sure that the cocktail works out well. For Flowers Are Expensive we actually started with hibiscus syrup and after multiple iterations ended up at St. Germain. That said, if you’re willing to take the time and energy, we still fully recommend trying it with a half / half split, which will post the recipe for below.
- Empress Gin – We chose Empress Gin for more than just it’s color. The floral forward notes make it a wonderful compliment for both St. Germain and the Asti. While you can use other gins, you’ll want to look for something more floral or contemporary like Aviation (or the now defunct Flower City).
- St Germain Elderflower Liqueur – This is THE bottle when it comes to elderflower liqueurs. It basically took over menus a decade ago, and it’s still got a place in most restaurants and bars. We recommend going with St. Germain as we’ve found it to be consistent, but feel free to use another Elderflower liqueur if you can’t find it or already have a different elderflower liqueur in your home bar.
- Lemon Juice – Use fresh squeezed for best results. Check out our equipment for starting a home bar to find a recommended hand squeezer if you want to add one to your bar.
- Asti Spumante – Don’t mistake Moscato d’Asti for Asti Spumante. Moscato d’Asti can have light carbonation and is also delicious, but what you want is Asti Spumante, which is sparkling wine (think like Cava or Champagne) and has the cage on the neck to match. We recommend Cinzano’s Asti Spumante here or Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante. Both will add delightful floral notes, stone fruit flavors, and a subtle sweetness.
- Dried Rose Bud – We’ve found our most reasonably priced source for these little rose buds is the local Asian market, but you can also buy them from Amazon*.
Variations:
To add another layer of complexity and increase the floral nature of the drink, reduce the St. Germain to ¼ and add a ¼ oz of Hibiscus Syrup.
Hibiscus Syrup
- 300 g Water
- 300 g Granulated Sugar
- 12 g Dried Hibiscus Flowers
Place the dried hibiscus flowers in a tea sachet and close. In a sauce pot, bring water and sugar to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the sachet containing the dried hibiscus flowers and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and remove the sachet. Allow to cool before bottling. Add an optional 30g of neutral grain spirit for preservative purposes if desired. Refrigerate. Dispose of if any mold or clouding develops.
* – This link is an Amazon affiliate link that may result in First Pour Cocktails receiving a portion of the sale of the item. These sales help us keep the website running and bringing you new original cocktails. As of this posting, we lose money every year, so please consider using our links when purchasing items related to our cocktails and reviews! Thanks!
Looking for something more bourbon forward? Why not try a Who Saz Men Can’t Be Romantic?
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