The reopening of the terraces: our cocktail ideas

The long-awaited moment we have all been dreaming of has finally arrived: the reopening of the terraces announcing a foretaste of SUMMER SERENITY. If, however, you missed the intimacy of a friendly get-together and want to spread the newly found atmosphere of a sunny home outing, you’ll need a few friends and some delicious food. To complete this panoply of a successful return to the terrace you need only one thing: FRENCH WHISKYS. The House of Benjamin Kuentz offers you a selection of whiskies to taste in cocktails for a successful whisky hour.

Let’s start with a few classics that will take you straight into the world of malted barley. (D’un) Spring Glass is the perfect candidate for a flawless WHISKY SOUR. With its freshness and floral aromas, the whisky fits perfectly with the acidity of the cocktail.

In a shaker, mix 5cl. of (D’un)Spring Glass single malt, 4cl. of lemon juice, 2cl. of sugar syrup, 1 dash of Angostura Bitter, and 1cl. of egg white. Hit the mixture with ice cubes until you get a light emulsion. Then strain to serve without ice. Because we don’t all have a shaker on hand, use a mixing glass!

Another classic, surely the most anticipated by bourbon lovers; the OLD FASHIONED. Fin de Partie will be the chosen one of the House of Benjamin Kuentz to make this cocktail. The peaty, chocolatey flavours of this whisky aged in ex-cognac, Bourbon and sherry wine casks merge with the citrusy orange fragrances found in the recipe for this American cocktail.

Place a sugar cube in the bottom of a glass and drizzle with two dashes of orange bitter. Then, crush it with a teaspoon to prepare the addition of 5cl. of Fin de Partie with 3 large ice cubes. Stir for a few seconds while avoiding total dilution of the mixture. Dilute with 3cl. of sparkling water if necessary before squeezing the orange peel over the glass.

The last classic in this cocktail series: the PENICILLIN. No, it is not the antibiotic discovered by Professor Alexander Fleming but a cocktail created in 2005 by New Yorker Sam Ross. As a Modern Classics figure, we have adapted it to our French whisky range to avoid having to cross the Atlantic Ocean to taste this curiously named cocktail. Take a shaker (or mixing glass) and first crush a slice of fresh ginger. Pour 4cl. of our whisky Aux Particules Vines #5, 1,5cl. of honey syrup, 2,5cl. of yellow lemon juice then add a few ice cubes before shaking (about 10 seconds). Serve the mixture in an Old Fashioned glass.

To have nothing to envy to the terraces and their sweetness of life, opt for a cocktail both fresh and fruity based on our whisky Végétal Musette: the HIGH-BALL.

Pour 5cl. of Végétal Musette into a highball glass and fill it with ice, preferably in cubes. Then add 10cl. of sparkling water. To finish, mix gently after adding a lemon peel or slice. Végétal Musette will spice up these moments of reunion with vivacity, through a festival of floral notes and signature grain flavours.

Because lightness and sharing are characteristic of these moments of reunion, the whisky Aux Particules Vines #5 is the ideal ally to accompany you in the realization of a surprising and elegant cocktail with fruity aromas and sweet roundness: CUIR N°5.

In a mixing glass, crush green grapes, tarragon and add 4cl. of Vines Particles, 1cl. of H.Theoria liqueur; Cuir Lointain and finally 1cl. of Cranberry juice. To become a cocktail creator worthy of the greatest terraces, decorate the glass with a zest of grapefruit.

Végétal Musette, with its freshness and vivacity, is THE protagonist of your summer. Let yourself be transported into an ode to love with the Midi Fauve H.Theoria liqueur, the perfect companion to French whisky. Its warm and luminous harmony reveals the vegetal aromas of the whisky in a balance of oriental spices.

For 4cl. of Végétal Musette, pour 1cl. of Midi Fauve, you can add a few centilitres of sparkling water to accompany the ice cubes and bring the freshness of this cocktail to its peak. Add two or three black olives for a final Mediterranean touch.

So which cocktail are you tempted by?