The French pearl cocktail is another drink I have been excited about making. We really loved the flavor of this one as I expected we would. After I had affogato made with ouzo gelato a few weeks ago, I’ve been really into licorice flavored anything. This cocktail is normally made with Pastis which is a French licorice flavored liqueur with herbal notes. It also has gin, mint, and lime. The combination works so well and is so refreshing.
I had bought some ouzo and also some Genepy de Chamois (which I used in this coconut milk punch cocktail last weekend). I didn’t have any Pastis, so I subbed some Ouzo and a little bit of Genepy de Chamois to add the herbal element missing from the Ouzo. This worked great, so you could use either for this drink. I made a mint simple syrup to use in this. You can also use regular simple syrup and muddle the mint into the drink if you prefer.
French Pearl Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 cup water if making mint syrup
- 1 cup sugar if making mint syrup
- 6 sprigs fresh mint
- few mint leaves for serving
- 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
- 3/4 oz mint simple syrup or regular
- 2 oz gin
- 1/4 oz pastis or 1/4 oz ouzo plus 1/4 oz Genepy de Chamois
Instructions
- If making simple syrup, wash mint and add to sauce pan with the sugar and water. Muddle the mint a bit and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes, then allow to cool with the mint in it for an hour. Strain the syrup into a jar and store in the fridge.
- If using regular simple syrup and fresh mint, add the mint and gin to a cocktail shaker and muddle the mint. Add the gin, pastis (or ouzo and Genepy de Chamois), lime juice, simple syrup (or mint syrup) and some ice and shake until very cold. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and top with fresh mint leaves.