Increasingly I find myself wanting to make cocktails to go with the things I enjoy doing. Currently I’m longing for spring, squinting up at trees to see if there are any leaves sprouting and peering at crocuses in the grass. In lieu of spring itself (it’s still COLD in London), I went to see the Royal Academy’s gorgeous ‘Painting the Modern Garden’ exhibition. It’s such a beautiful collection of paintings, from Monet’s huge, mournful late waterlily works, to some bright, vivid Expressionist ‘Avant-Gardens.’
There was no photography allowed inside, but here are some images of some of my favourite paintings to try and sum the experience up. If I could live inside any exhibition, I think it would be this one – it was such a riot of colour, bursting with flowers and sunshine, yet it was serene and gentle at the same time.
I enjoyed this exhibition so much, and I wanted to make a cocktail that was colourful, fresh, and floral to go with it. Enter the very conveniently named Water Lily (thank you Saveur apparently an original recipe from PDT in New York. It’s very similar to an Aviation, but replaces the maraschino liqueur with Cointreau. The lemon juice and creme de violette provide the required bright, flowery quality, and the colour could just about come from Monet’s lily pond at Giverny.
Ingredients:
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz crème de violette
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
Shake all ingredients over ice and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of orange. [No chrysanthemums were eaten in the making of this cocktail]
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I, too, am a fan of a bit of Creme de Violette on occasion. Very delicate liqueur much in keeping with the art exhibition that inspired your choosing this cocktail. Brilliant presentation.
Thank you! I like the idea of mixing art and cocktails – just have to get to some more exhibitions…
Your photos and writing are brilliant, cheers!
Thank you! It looks like we overlap quite a bit in cocktail tastes, it’ll be good to keep up with each other!
This has been on my list to try for a while, and you make it look so good! I love the flower garnish and the impressionist inspiration. Gorgeous cocktail!
Thank you! I love crème de violette, though it never turns out as purple as I’m hoping for?
It’s great to hear about your inspiration behind the cocktails you create. Really enjoy reading your blog!
Rory,
http://teaandthat.com
Thank you 🙂 I’m having a lot of fun exploring!
It’s almost like you’re translating the art into cocktail form. Really cool. I am getting ideas here! Cool post!
Thank you! I guess the colours lend themselves really well to drinks – definitely easier to match than most art exhibitions would be!
Wow! Am going to purchase some Creme de violette forthwith…
It is lovely. I held off buying it because I thought I’d never use it, but I think I’ll manage!
ohhh that sounds divine! i love creme de violette! must try, must try 🙂
It’s such a gorgeous flavour – I may have added a bit more than was necessary…
when it comes to creme de violette, i am the same … always a dash more than the recipe asks for 🙂
Can’t resist that floral taste!