Angel's Share Recipe
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Distillers endearingly refer to the liquor lost to evaporation during the aging process as the “angel’s share.” We first heard this term used by a small-batch bourbon maker a few years ago, thus it seemed a fitting name for this bourbon cocktail.
What to buy: Belvoir Elderflower Pressé is a refreshing combination of elderflower, lemon, and lightly carbonated water and can be found at specialty food markets and online.
INGREDIENTS
- 5 ounces Belvoir Elderflower Pressé
- 1 ounce bourbon
- Ice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine pressé and bourbon over ice in a highball glass, stir, and serve.
JohnE O: by all means indulge over the next few weeks... but if you want to use it up differently, the cordial was originally designed to be drunk simply diluted with water (I like to use sparkling water most of all). It's also AMAZING when used in cooking: gooseberry + elderflower crumble is divine, and it works well with many other fruits too. Or, it can be added to cake batter.
This popped up today on my weekly trip to the mega-international mart so I was able to pick up some Belvoir. I'm always looking to expand the bourbon range so I gave this a try. Very nice. It's almost like a gateway drink to a mint Julep. The only drawback is the Belvoir recommends consuming within 3 days of opening. Could be a lot of drinking going on this weekend.
I'm not sure if it's Belvoir brand, but Molly Stones in San Francisco usually carries Elderflower Presse in their foreign food aisle.
I have enjoyed variations on his drink that we've made using substitutes for the Belvoir Elderflower Pressé, which we haven't been able to find yet. It works well with sparkling water and an elderflower syrup, or even St. Germain, though at that point it does indeed become a bit different, though enjoyable just the same. Thanks for the great recipes, CHOW.
hereward,
Um...that's what it says. "liquor lost to evaporation during the aging process". Aging = "storage". Aging, like "storage", is done in barrels...ie where the bourbon is lost. Have you seen my bourbon?
It's not the bourbon lost during distillation, but during storage in charred white-oak barrels; they allow a very small amount of loss to the atmosphere, and absorption by the wood. That's the Angels' Share.