Volant Pardieu
This cocktail was among the 10 winners of the 2022 Cognac Connection Challenge. The name translates to “Flying by God” which I found funny because of the irreverence to both god and a spirit, which can often be taken too seriously. My name in Hebrew, נְתַנְאֵל , translates to “gift of god” and I thought the chamomile flower garnish looked like a badmitton shuttlecock which is called volant in French.
1.25 oz Butter-Roasted-Chanterelle-infused Cognac Park Borderies
.75 oz Cognac Park Borderies
.5 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
.25 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quina
.25 oz Cognac Park Pineau des Charantes
.25 oz Chamomile Simple Syrup
Chill rocks glass. Add a large ice cube to the glass and allow it to temper while you make the cocktail. Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass. Fill generously with ice and stir for 40 rotations (~25 seconds). The cocktail should be slightly under-diluted. Strain with a julep strainer over the tempered large cube. Garnish with a single, whole, fresh chamomile flower in the center of the cube.
MOPs
Butter-Roasted-Chanterelle-infused Cognac Park Borderies
150g Chanterelle Mushrooms
100 g unsalted French butter (or one of a similarly high fat content)
4 g sea salt (preferably Maldon)
Roughly chop Chanterelle mushrooms. Combine mushrooms with the butter and sea salt in a heavy-bottom pan. Over medium heat, cook mushrooms until the butter has a fine foam and has turned into brown butter and the mushrooms are roasted and fragrant. Strain butter off and reserve for other projects. In a freezer-proof container, zip-lock bag, or cryovac bag, add one 750 ml bottle of Cognac Park Borderies and 50 grams of the roasted mushrooms and seal. Let sit at room temp for 12 hours. Place the container in a freezer for at least 4 hours. Remove from the freezer and strain through a fine metal strainer making sure to press the mushrooms to extract as much of the infused cognac as possible. Filter the infused cognac through a 100-micron superbag. If you don’t have one, a pre-wet cellulose conical filter or coffee filter works fine.
Chamomile Simple Syrup
5 grams chamomile tea
500 mL filtered water (@ 212°F | 100°C)
Bring an excess of water to a boil and pour 500 mL of it over the tea and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine metal mesh strainer being sure to press the tea to extract as much liquid as possible. Filter a second time through a conical filter (e.g. coffee filter or cellulose). Weigh the liquid and add an equal amount of fine cane sugar. Stir until combined and let cool.