French Pear Liqueur = Beautiful Summer Cocktails
I recently got a shipment of four beautiful bottles of Mathilde Fruit Liqueurs from France*—peach, pear, raspberry, and cassis. These life-enhancing elixirs have been making their way into my summer cocktail recipes, and I’ve been loving the effects.
First up: The fascinating Mathilde Poire Liqueur. It’s made simply from Bartlett pears that are pressed for juice, fermented, and distilled in pot stills. A touch of quince (a pear-esque fruit) is added to the distillate to enhance the pear flavor. In the final step, sugar and purified water are added to get the liqueurs to just the right sweetness and proof.
Speaking of proof: These liqueurs are delightfully low in alcohol (18%) meaning that you can add quite a bit of them to cocktails (for great flavors) without adding to much by way of head-spinning effects.
Compare, for example, the Cointreau that you might add to a margarita, or my favorite Coucher de Soleil (sunset) cocktail. Don’t get me wrong. I love Cointreau, but Cointreau is 40% alcohol, so I use it more sparingly, especially in drinks that call for another high-proof spirit, like gin or tequila.
I love it that I can use these fruit liqueurs more generously, without over-proofing my drink.
So, what do you do with pear liqueur? Each night for the past week, I’ve stirred up a new cocktail using pear liqueur, and I’ll share three of the tip-top favorites with you.
Pear Liqueur and Elderflower Tonic Spritz
I love two-ingredient cocktails! Photo credit.
This low-alcohol cocktail made with pear liqueur combines the liqueur with elderflower tonic for a truly amazing swirl of floral-fruit flavors.
Simply pour about a tablespoon of Mathilde Pear Liqueur into a tall wine glass. Fill with ice and top off with tonic. Garnish with any fresh fruits you might have around.
P.S.: While I’m loving Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic in this, if you want your cocktail to be more about the pear flavors, use Fever Tree Refreshingly Light Tonic, as it will let more of the liqueur’s flavors come through. Incidentally, I also tried this cocktail simply using sparkling water, and it was pleasant, but honestly, the combo of pear and Elderflower Tonic is sublime.
Pear Daiquiri
A daiquiri is one of the best three-ingredient cocktails in the world. And when the third ingredient is pear liqueur, it’s downright sublime. Photo credit.
Here’s another great cocktail with pear liqueur: the Pear Daiquiri.
A daiquiri is basically rum, lime juice, and simple syrup, and it’s one of the world’s best summer drinks. Here, I’ve substituted the simple syrup with a generous tipple of pear liqueur for another irresistible summer cocktail.
1.5 ounces white rum
1 ounce Mathilde Poire (pear liqueur)
.75 ounce fresh lime juice
Citrus peel
Combine all ingredients in a shaker and cover with ice. Shake well and strain into a small coupe glass. Or, serve on the rocks in a rocks glass Garnish as desired with a citrus peel.
Dame Blanche au Poire
It’s up to you: Get more virility by serving this straight up. For a drink that will last longer, serve it on the rocks. Photo credit.
My absolute favorite summer gin cocktail is the White Lady (gin, lemon juice, Cointreau); you might recall that I morphed this into a pretty blue cocktail called Mr. Sportcoat Goes to Beaulieu.
With this drink made with pear liqueur, I’m taking the basic White Lady and substituting Mathilde Pear Liqueur for the Cointreau — for dashing (and summery-fresh) results. Serve it on the rocks if you want it to last longer.
1 1/2 ounces gin (I’ve been enjoying Citadelle)
1 ounce pear liqueur
3/4 ounce lemon juice
Citrus peel garnish
Place the gin, liqueur, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker. Cover with ice; cover the shaker and shake vigorously until well-chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe or small tulip glass. Garnish with a citrus peel.
Other posts you might enjoy:
• A Great French Gin: Citadelle French Gin + How to Serve It
• Strawberry-Rosé Cocktail with A Beautiful French Rosé
• Coucher de Soleil Cocktail (My Favorite French Summer Gin Cocktail)
• How to Make Blue Cocktails without Curaçao
*Note that the PR firm representing Mathilde liqueurs kindly sent me a complimentary set of these liqueurs for use in developing my cocktails. I was not compensated in any other way, and all opinions are my own.
