Champs Élysées Cocktail
I’ve been to Paris twice in my life. The first time, I was a college student, traveling by Chunnel train under the English Channel over a long weekend during my study-abroad semester in London. I stayed in a $15 a night hostel with no hot water and only a French baguette with butter and jam for breakfast. I was determined to enjoy a flavor of Hemingway’s and Fitzgerald’s Paris, so I wandered the streets and back alleys for hours, imagining I was following in their footsteps. It was an amazing adventure for someone who didn’t speak the language, and who didn’t know a soul in the city. I ate fresh strawberries from a street market, enjoyed a Nutella crêpe from one of the city’s famous stands, and felt my pulse quicken at my first glimpse of the Impressionists at the Musée d'Orsay. I tried to soak up as much of the experience as possible, not sure when I would ever make it back.
My second trip was about a decade ago with my husband. We had nicer accommodations, but still covered much of the same ground as during my earlier trip. It was lovely exploring the city together, covering well-trodden ground and sites further afield, such as the graves of King Louis XIV, the namesake of my husband’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and Marie-Antoinette of “Let them eat cake” fame, in the Basilica Cathedral of Saint Denis. I have two favorite memories from that trip. The first was a bike ride through the Paris streets at dusk. The second was a stop for a cocktail and macarons at a café on the Champs-Élysées, looking out on the bustling street with the Arc de Triomphe in the distance. Though we were in the heart of tourist country, there was still something magical about seeing the sunset through the chestnut trees, and later, walking along the avenue at night. Though there is so much of the world I still want to see, someday, I hope to make it back to Paris and the Champs-Élysées.
In the meantime, until it is safe to travel again, the Champs-Élysées cocktail with its French cognac and green chartreuse is a nice reminder. It’s smooth and herbal, and the name does bring Paris to mind, at least for the few moments while I’m making it. According to the Difford’s Guide, the drink is a riff on the Sidecar, which uses orange liqueur rather than chartreuse. The cocktail first appeared in 1925 in a recipe book entitled Drinks-Long and Short. If you’d like to try it, pour 1.5 oz. of cognac, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice, ½ oz simple syrup, ¼ oz green chartreuse and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake to chill and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist and enjoy.