Bar Exam

St-Germain is a liqueur made from elderflowers—star-shaped,
honeysucklesque blossoms—gathered in the French Alps for a few
fleeting days each spring by, I believe, elves wearing berets. A
sophisticate would say it’s redolent of violets, with notes of lychee
and grapefruit; a regular human would say it’s sweet. Straight up, it’s
like drinking a flower. Saint Germain was a buzzkill of a saint, known
for shutting down the last Gallic pagan parties and then ensuring
Christian celebrations were no fun, too; he was not into excess.
St-Germain in its alcohol edition is popping up in drinks all over
town, probably due to the fact that world-famous bartender Jamie
Boudreau has signed on as its local “brand ambassador” (that is,
bar-staff-educator/pimp).

St-Germain is ideal in refreshing cocktails for spring and summer;
last week, on the day of the Belltown St-Germain bar crawl, the weather
was near-freezing and miserable. Approximately 80 people partook
anyway. It was a self-guided, four-bar affair, $20 total for one
St-Germain-containing drink at each. Crawlers were to vote for their
favorite drink at their last stop. I did not do this, being genuinely
unable to decide: Every thoughtfully prepared alcoholic beverage has
its merits (as do most harum-scarum ones). Also: When you’re going to
four bars on a Monday night, everyone wins! (Except you on
Tuesday morning.)

The bartender at Rob Roy got bonus points in the weather-appropriate
department. She’d been planning, she said, a drink with sparkling wine,
but saw the hail coming down that morning and went with what she named
the Rye Persuasion. It was smooth, rich, and tawny colored, with the
rye mingling nicely with the liqueur’s sweet factor. The drink’s fatal
flaw: no garnish. Fact: People love garnish. This is very likely
why Brasa’s drink won by a scant two votes: Called the Saint Jolie, it
had Hendrick’s gin, moscato, and St-G. with a candied dried-orange
lollipop for decoration. The drink, by bartender MiNan Ahn, embraced
the sweetness, and clearly, if you give people a lollipop,
they’ll vote for you. Over at Flying Fish, the Saint Elder’s Fire went
the opposite direction with Patrón Silver tequila, fresh citrus,
and Thai chili pepper. If the (admirable) spicy heat overpowered the
St-Germain instead of showcasing it, that didn’t seem such a crime
three drinks in. The prize here went to the crawler in the leather hat
who made actually nonpompous conversation about his 3,000-bottle wine
collection. (If you’re looking to make new, possibly rich friends,
these crawls are ideal.) And the winner for greenest, most viscous
beverage: the Saint-Germain-des-Prés at Cafe Campagne, like
a basil smoothie with a float of sparkling Crémant. It was
completely delicious and would’ve made, as the bartender admitted
ruefully, a perfect drink for a hot day. Next up: a champagne cocktail
competition in May. Surely the weather will be better.

Belltown Bar Crawl: Piper-Heidsieck and Cointreau edition, May
10, www.brownpapertickets.com.