Cocktails that I really swoon over tend to fall into two camps: herbal/floral and brown. This one, as you see, falls in the former. I’m a fan of floral tastes in general—I have exactly one kitchen cabinet’s worth of “pantry” space and still have bottles of both orange blossom and rose water. Priorities.
The floral notes in this cocktails come from Creme Yvette, a once-forgotten liqueur with notes of violet, berries, vanilla, orange peel, and honey. A 750 ml bottle will run you just under $50 and for me that definitely falls into splurge territory. However, since it’s not the starring spirit in a drink, it should last you just short of forever. And if you’re a person who is inclined not to ignore that holiday later this week, a bottle of this terribly lovely liqueur and couple of these ruby hued cocktails would be a fine way to celebrate.
This drink is essentially a Blue Moon, but I had some blood orange juice leftover from my Serious Eats piece, so I plugged that in here. The result is a pretty, not-too-sour gin cocktail with all sorts of nice berry and floral flavors.
Blue Moon Cocktail Variation
Serving Size: 1 cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 oz Hendrick's Gin
- 1/2 oz Creme Yvette
- 1 oz Blood Orange Juice
- Ice
Cooking Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker.
- Strain into a coupe glass and serve.
About autumn
Autumn Giles is the creator of Autumn Makes & Does and the co-host of the Alphabet Soup Podcast.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, this is so pretty! I confess I’ve never heard of Creme Yvette before, but from your description, the flavors seem right up my alley. And I do love me the combination of gin + citrus. What an elegant, simple little cocktail!
Thanks, Sara. I should have mentioned too that creme yvette isn’t toooooo floral. I know that’s a turn off for a lot of folks. There’s a really nice balance of flavors.
Where oh where have I *heard* of Creme Yvette before? I need to get a ticket to the gin train. I’m clearly missing out.
hahaha! yes, you do kelly.
This cocktail looks lovely! I want to become a better cocktail drinker and stray beyond rye whiskey with ice–maybe it’s time for a little Creme Yvette in my life? I really want to drink that.
That’s a really interesting variation on one of my favorite cocktails. I normally think that lemon is a great counterpoint to the floral notes of the violet, but I admit I haven’t actually thought about using Orange. I’m curious if you’ve tried using regular old Creme De Violette in this drink though. Although I think CY is great for sipping, in terms of mixing, I think more of the floral violet notes comes through with the slightly less sweet CDV.
Good piece, and happy drinking! Cheers!
ohmygoodness.
this looks amazing. I usually have a bottle of Hendricks onhand, but I’ll have to go pick up some Creme Yvette. It sounds lovely.
Thanks for the stunning recipe!