boudreaulicious wrote:Not my experience. May not taste exactly the same as freshly opened but definitely not spoiled.

I agree. It changes but for up to about a month -- in the fridge -- it still works for my taste. After that, it gets too pruney-tasting and loses its zip.

=R=

My personal collection always includes Meyers dark rum, Grand Mariner, Amaretto, Kahlua, and some kind of brandy.

The Carpano Antica, even if refrigerated and stored using some sort of wine saver, will still go bad in a few weeks.

Numerous warnings to the contrary, I've yet to have a bottle go bad on me, to the extent that I'm kind of curious what bad Carpano tastes like, just for references. Granted, I've never gone, like, six months with a bottle, but I've been good for at least two or so, or until it's gone. Then again, I generally split a bottle with a friend, so perhaps the full bottle would die before I hit bottom.

Something new and fun I've discovered is St. Germain liqueur, it's an elderflower liqueur it's a bit of a splurge at around $40
or if you are only mixing it there is a more generic version for $20ish

One of my faves to mix up is the Hummingbird cocktail:
2 parts brut champagne or dry sparkling wine
(I like a rose or blanc de noirs)
1-1/2 parts St-Germain

2 parts club soda or sparkling water
Garnish with a lemon twist.

http://www.stgermain.fr/cocktails.php
They have a ton of recipes on their website....

irisarbor wrote:Something new and fun I've discovered is St. Germain liqueur, it's an elderflower liqueur it's a bit of a splurge at around $40
or if you are only mixing it there is a more generic version for $20ish

Naturally they didn't have it when I went looking for it, but Costco has St. Germaine from time to time for $35ish, often in a gift box with a nice glass pitcher.

One of my favorite uses for St. Germaine is the Part & Parcel cocktail (this is almost completely cribbed from a Violet Hour recipe):

2 oz vodka (or gin, which is my preferred variation)
.75 oz St. Germaine
.75 oz fresh grapefruit juice
.25 oz lime Juice
.50 oz simple syrup
5 drops Bitter Cube Jamaican #2 bitters (or a big squeeze of freshly-expressed grapefruit oils from the rind)
Shake with ice. Strain into a coupe, serve up.

I also recently tried a 5-minute St. Germaine/grated serrano chile infusion for use in a mezcal-based cocktail...the end result was surprisingly awesome.

Here is one of my favorite cocktail recipe-Paradise Cocktail

Paradise Cocktail is an aperitif (pre-dinner) drink. It is one of the classic cocktails, and a nice accompaniment on summer evening dinners. This drink was invented by Harry Craddock in 1930 and was featured in his book, The Savoy Cocktail Book.
In order to make this cocktail, you need gin, apricot brandy, orange juice in a 2:1:1 ratio. You can also add a splash of lemon juice for the extra sweet tinge. You can serve this straight up or without ice.

Ingredients:

3.5 cl gin
2 cl apricot brandy
1.5 cl orange juice

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients in a shaker.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve.