A light, gin-forward cocktail reminiscent of the crisp woods that inspired it.
Today we’ll be looking at a riff of one of my absolute favorite cocktails paired
with a cult classic that every horror buff is familiar with. The recipe for the
Blair 75 uses a base of a French 75, a gin-based champaign cocktail named for
its light but powerful punch.
The Blair Witch Project was a cultural phenomenon, when it reached audiences in 1999, and revived the found footage genre. The titular Witch never makes an appearance, but their presence always is felt, and the suspense derives from the main cast’s reactions to horrors on and off screen. While the conditions of the actors are morally questionable at best, it’s safe to say The Blair Witch Project changed the genre of horror forever.
Using the setting of the film as the main inspiration for the drink, it was best to start with a strong London dry style gin. This helps provide a piney, bitter base for the cocktail. To bring in some sweetness and more floral notes there is an addition of a honey syrup and elderflower liquor. The floral notes also bring out similar flavors within the sparkling wine. The acidity of lemon juice marries the bitter and sweet together to balance out the cocktail. As stated before the type of champaign or prosecco doesn’t matter as much in this as it stands more to lighten the drink and provide effervescence. Use however nice (or not so nice) sparkling wine as you’d like. To garnish we’ve brought in rosemary for a subtle herbal nose, toothpick effigy optional.
The Blair Witch Project was a cultural phenomenon, when it reached audiences in 1999, and revived the found footage genre. The titular Witch never makes an appearance, but their presence always is felt, and the suspense derives from the main cast’s reactions to horrors on and off screen. While the conditions of the actors are morally questionable at best, it’s safe to say The Blair Witch Project changed the genre of horror forever.
Using the setting of the film as the main inspiration for the drink, it was best to start with a strong London dry style gin. This helps provide a piney, bitter base for the cocktail. To bring in some sweetness and more floral notes there is an addition of a honey syrup and elderflower liquor. The floral notes also bring out similar flavors within the sparkling wine. The acidity of lemon juice marries the bitter and sweet together to balance out the cocktail. As stated before the type of champaign or prosecco doesn’t matter as much in this as it stands more to lighten the drink and provide effervescence. Use however nice (or not so nice) sparkling wine as you’d like. To garnish we’ve brought in rosemary for a subtle herbal nose, toothpick effigy optional.
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Blair 75:
While this drink is a bit more of a pleasant experience than the
90's classic, the earthy notes of the haunted forest are echoed in
the Blair 75. For tasting notes the elderflower liquor is
front and center in the palette. Gin sets the stage for the floral
notes to thrive in this drink. The lemon provides a bit of acidity
to curb the sweetness from being too cloying. The gin, wine and
liquor really live up to it's French 75 origins in packing quite a
boozy punch, even though this cocktail is easy to drink.
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