Colombe II

Paul Girault’s original Colombe cocktail, served at Café de La Paix, was a modified Champagne cocktail fortified with Cognac and cherry and orange liqueurs. I’ve adapted it to suit our supply list this month, keeping the Cognac and orange liqueur, using grenadine to hint at the conflation of grenadine and cherry syrup, and “improving” the mixture with absinthe and Angostura bitters. The snifter is a nod to the Cognac base.

INGREDIENTS

1½ oz. Cognac
¼ oz. Grand Marnier
1 barspoon grenadine
3 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash absinthe
3 oz. sparkling wine, to top

Garnish: cocktail cherry, orange twist

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ABV LEVEL

Fill a medium-sized snifter with pebble or crushed ice. Top with Cognac, Grand Marnier, grenadine, Angostura bitters and absinthe. Top with more ice and pour 2-3 oz. of dry sparkling wine on top. Add a straw, mound more ice on top, and garnish with a cherry on a pick and an expressed orange twist.