Lavender Breeze

About the Lavender Breeze

Floral and elegant, the Lavender Breeze pairs Timber Creek Florida Gin with lavender syrup and lemon juice, then tops the whole thing with sparkling wine for a celebratory, bubbly finish. Think of it as a gin sour that’s been dressed up for an occasion. The lavender syrup brings a soft, perfumed sweetness that could easily overwhelm a lesser spirit, but the gin’s juniper and citrus peel notes give it something to push back against, keeping the drink floral rather than soapy. Timber Creek’s PureBlend process, which distills each grain separately and blends components after individual barrel aging, produces a gin with enough definition to stand up to the lavender without losing its own character in the process.

Lemon juice adds the acidity needed to keep the whole drink from tasting one-dimensionally sweet. To build it, shake the gin, lavender syrup, and lemon juice together with ice until well chilled. Strain into a chilled champagne flute and top slowly with sparkling wine, pouring gently down the side of the glass to preserve the bubbles. The result should look pale gold with a fine, steady stream of bubbles rising through it.

This is very much an occasion cocktail, a bridal shower, a spring brunch, an anniversary toast. Pair it with a goat cheese tart or a berry salad, both of which echo the floral, slightly tart profile of the drink itself without competing against the sparkling wine’s own character. Because sparkling wine is doing real work in this drink beyond just topping it off, a dry brut style tends to work better than something sweeter, which can push the whole cocktail too far into dessert territory alongside the lavender syrup. [VERIFY: whether the sparkling wine specified in the original recipe is a particular labeled producer still in current use] Because sparkling wine adds its own alcohol on top of the gin, this drink can sneak up on people who think of it as light and celebratory.

Keep an eye on pacing at events where it’s served, and enjoy it responsibly, only if you are 21 or older.

Floral and elegant, the Lavender Breeze pairs Timber Creek Florida Gin with lavender syrup and lemon juice, then tops the whole thing with sparkling wine for a celebratory, bubbly finish. Think of it as a gin sour that’s been dressed up for an occasion. The lavender syrup brings a soft, perfumed sweetness that could easily overwhelm a lesser spirit, but the gin’s juniper and citrus peel notes give it something to push back against, keeping the drink floral rather than soapy. Timber Creek’s PureBlend process, which distills each grain separately and blends components after individual barrel aging, produces a gin with enough definition to stand up to the lavender without losing its own character in the process.

Lemon juice adds the acidity needed to keep the whole drink from tasting one-dimensionally sweet. To build it, shake the gin, lavender syrup, and lemon juice together with ice until well chilled. Strain into a chilled champagne flute and top slowly with sparkling wine, pouring gently down the side of the glass to preserve the bubbles. The result should look pale gold with a fine, steady stream of bubbles rising through it.

This is very much an occasion cocktail, a bridal shower, a spring brunch, an anniversary toast. Pair it with a goat cheese tart or a berry salad, both of which echo the floral, slightly tart profile of the drink itself without competing against the sparkling wine’s own character. Because sparkling wine is doing real work in this drink beyond just topping it off, a dry brut style tends to work better than something sweeter, which can push the whole cocktail too far into dessert territory alongside the lavender syrup. [VERIFY: whether the sparkling wine specified in the original recipe is a particular labeled producer still in current use] Because sparkling wine adds its own alcohol on top of the gin, this drink can sneak up on people who think of it as light and celebratory.

Keep an eye on pacing at events where it’s served, and enjoy it responsibly, only if you are 21 or older.