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The other day I was thinking of cocktails that were fall and winter-friendly. Calvados (apple brandy) of course is always in season, but I also had a bottle of spiced pear liqueur from St. George Spirits in California on hand that has a lovely pear flavor mingled with a bouquet of spices, that I’ve been meaning to incorporate into a cocktail.

I had a hunch that it would be well-paired with French apple brandy, and that hunch proved correct in this Far From the Tree cocktail, a nod to the expression that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” as the apple brandy – and the sparkling apple cider – fell into my kitchen, which are quite far from any trees. But happily, they all made it into my glass.

(And I’m hoping that all made sense. I’ve been trying to translate some American expressions for my French partner, especially “They drank the Kool-Aid,” which I’ve decided just isn’t translatable.)

The Spiced Pear Liqueur is made by St. George spirits, a distiller in my old stomping grounds of Alameda, California. I knew the founder, Jörg Rupf,  who started distilling European-style spirits in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1982. At the time, few knew what eau-de vie was.

Jörg was a wealth of knowledge and I always learned something when I spent time with him, and was surprised when he told me one day that it took around 50 pounds (23kg) of Bartlett pears to make just one bottle of pear eau-de-vie, and he laughed that his biggest restaurant account sold only a half bottle of eau-de-vie every two months. He reveled in the bounty of excellent produce in California, making eau-de-vie from everything, including kiwifruit, apples, raspberries, pears, and even holly berries.

One day while at the distillery he gave me a sip of apple brandy which he’d made but promptly forgot about, which was similar to Calvados, but without the terroir. (To be called “Calvados” the apple brandy has to be made in Normandy with only certain varieties of local apples, with a few pears added for their aroma, and must be aged in wooden barrels for at least two years.) His apple brandy had been sitting in a barrel for ten years and when he discovered it, it was delicious.

Jörg eventually retired from distilling and sold the company, which is still going strong, and St. George Spirits under master distiller Lance Winters, continues to make excellent liqueurs that include gin and other distillations (they now call their eau-de vie “brandy”), absinthe, vodka (including a green chile one), shochu and Bruto Americano, a botanically-rich alternative to Campari that I particularly enjoy, with no artificial colorant, made with an expressive blend of local botanicals and other ingredients.

But even if you’re not in Normandy, or Northern California, and far from an apple (or pear) tree, you can still enjoy these fall and winter flavors in a cocktail.

Far From the Tree

If you can't get the spiced pear liqueur, you could use a good-quality triple sec, orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier) or another good fruit-based liqueur. Allspice Dram (homemade or store-bought) is another possible liqueur to use, which has spicy notes.
Be sure to use a slightly larger coupe glass if you have it, since depending on the size of your ice cube, you want there to be enough room for the sparkling cider on top.
Course Drinks
  • 2 ounces Calvados
  • 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 1/2 ounce St. George spiced pear liqueur
  • sparkling hard cider or sparkling wine
  • Add the Calvados, sweet vermouth, and pear liqueur to a cocktail mixing glass.
  • Fill the glass two-thirds full of ice and stir briskly until well-chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Add an ice cube and a splash of sparking cider.
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29 comments

    • Rosary Lescohier

    Really like the new blog/email format, especially the frequency. Good move.

    • MR in NJ

    “They drank the Kool-Aid” makes sense in any language only if you know the Jonestown story. Tell him that and then you can use the expression in English. There is even a Wikipedia page for it.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_the_Kool-Aid

    Apparently Kool-Aid got a bad rap. It was the best-known brand at the time, and the expression came into common use quickly after the massacre, perhaps partly because some writers had used it before. But it was not necessarily what they drank. Or so Wikipedia says.

    Over time, “drink the Kool-Aid” grotesquely became business jargon for wholeheartedly embracing an idea.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I tried explaining Jonestown as part of it, but that was quite a story to tell…and I’m not sure I did it justice, in French.

    • Linda H.

    Good looking cocktail. Drinking the Koolaid may not be translatable, but it is explainable, unfortunately.

    • Sharyn Dimmick

    I didn’t know holly berries were edible or distillable. — I’m looking at a great big tree covered with them.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      They aren’t edible but Jörg said when distilled, the eau-de-vie is drinkable as others are making it today.

    • Suzanne Femmer

    Does your French partner know the Jim Jones cult mass Koolaid suicide story? That explains the Koolaid slang. On the cocktail end of things – I’m not fond of apples in any form other than pies ; ) but will try the spiced pear liqueur with a substitute. I feel an adventure in the making!

    • Christina

    I love St. George’s spiced pear liqueur! I usually drink it neat but this sounds like a fabulous cocktail to use it in (& a great excuse to stock up again). I prefer their Bruto to Campari in cocktails

    • Carolyn

    Commonly heard these days in regard to those sycophants who continue to believe anything that comes out of a certain President’s mouth.

    • Elizabeth

    Might homemade quince ratafia (slightly spiced) stand in for the pear?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      It depends how strong it is and how well it can mix with the Calvados. I would give it a try but if you want more spice you could add some allspice dram or cinnamon (or cardamom) bitters.

    • Grace from Vancouver

    Gorgeous cocktail !
    Any chance of offering a pomegranate one ? Pomegranates are in season in Vancouver and we see great piles of them in Persian grocery stores. We are having a much diminished Christmas celebration because of covid ( only 4 of us compared to 15 of other years ) and thought that a ruby red cocktail would provide some cheer.

      • jane

      I would DIY a pomegranate liqueur in the Asian style by filling a jar with rock crystal sugar, vodka and the pomegranate arils. May not be ready for a while though. Gotta wonder if this would also work with peeled pears.

      https://cookpad.com/us/recipes/142912-strawberry-liqueur

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Hi Grace: The Scofflaw is a great recipe that uses pomegranate syrup. I have a homemade pomegranate syrup recipe in Drinking French and you can also perhaps find them online. It’s a great cocktail and even better with homemade syrup!

    • phanmo

    I can just imagine having to first explain what Kool-Aid is, and then explain the whole history of the Jim Jones cult (making sure to use the word sect instead of cult )….

    Currently drinking a French version of a Dark and Stormy, calva instead of rum!

    • molly kellogg

    Love the cocktail…and the reference to American expressions. I worked in Hong Kong for many years and every time I came back for meetings at my Warner Bros. headquarters there was a new expression that I never heard before…my favorite “whack-a-mole”. They had to explain it came from a child’s game; every time you whacked a mole, another one popped up. i.e. can apply to trying to solve most any problem!

    • Lee Jackson

    Yes to this. I have everything but pear liqueur. I am prepared to take my COVID chances with a double mask to go find it! Thanks for the recipe!

    • Robin Bergman

    I have a Pear Vodka, would that work at all, also adding spices?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I think it depends on well you think it’s flavor would hold up to the calvados. If it’s very strongly-flavored perhaps, but it’s hard to tell without trying it. If you do give it a go, let us know how it turns out!

    • Pam from Cape Cod

    If you’re really considering being “bi”, this girl is all for it!
    That cocktail looks absolutely yummy. Can’t wait to try it.
    A student from Shanghai once asked me what “wag the dog” meant. Yikes.

    • Sheila

    Sounds wonderful! My favorite holiday cocktail is also an apple/pear/spice combination: Chuck Taggart’s Réveillon with Calvados, Pear brandy, Allspice liqueur, sweet vermouth and aromatic bitters. Looking forward to picking up some spiced pear liqueur so I can compare them.

    • Emma

    This is delicious! We love the St. George’s pear liqueur and had some on hand. I picked up calvados and ended up using a bit of sparkling water + apple cider to top it off. Thank you for the festive recipe!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Glad you had a bottle of the pear liqueur on hand!

    • Barbara Novello

    Oh AUdrey you are the best. YOU always cheer me up with your products and your ideas. BTW the tomato sauce you recommended is WONDERFUL and we love it. Now going to try the drink!
    Merry Christmas to beautiful you!

    • Jess Miller

    Did you know that Far From the Tree is a cider house just north of Boston? They’ve been coming to our farmers’ market for a couple of years now and always have delightful seasonal blends. http://www.farfromthetreecider.com/

    • Ben

    Thank you, David, for a wonderful drink recipe. The apple brandy I used was Tom’s Foolery, made 30 miles from where I live in Ohio with local apples, topped off with Original Sin’s Blackberry apple cider. My terroir for this drink is the Midwest, I guess. I used orancello rather than pear liqueur, but the blackberry in the cider added a wonderful complexity paired with the applejack.

    • Kate

    Perfect! I wasn’t sure what to do with my St. George Spiced Pear, and I bought Calvados after reading through Drinking French. Thank you for a lovely winter nip for a cold Bay Area December night!

    • Helen Cleveland

    Good evening, have you used the St. George spiced pear liqueur in any baking? We were gifted with fresh pears and I would like to make a pear crostata with the liqueur. What are your thoughts? Loving your Drinking French book!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I haven’t. I am pretty sure a splash in the filling for an apple or pear pie, or crisp, or another dessert like an Apple Tart, would be intriguing to try. If you do, let us know how it turns out!

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