Saratoga Cocktail From L’Oursin

Recipe: Zac Overman & Tommy Stearns , L'Oursin , Seattle

Photo: John Valls

March 18, 2022

A 1930s French classic gets freshened up.

Austrian-born bartender Frank Meier helmed the bar at the Hôtel Ritz’s Café Parisian in Paris starting in 1921. For a cocktail menu celebrating Parisian bartenders from a century ago, the bar team at L’Oursin revived and refined this Frank Meier classic, the Saratoga cocktail.

Ingredients

1½ oz. pineapple-infused Cognac (L’Oursin uses Dudognon Reserve)
¼ oz. maraschino liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters
2 oz. chilled French cider (such as Hérout Extra Brut Cidre de Normandie)

Tools:barspoon
Glass:highball
Garnish:orange half-wheel, mint sprig

Preparation

Add the first three ingredients to a chilled glass filled with crushed ice. Swizzle briefly with a barspoon, then add more ice to fill the glass, and top with the chilled cider. Garnish.

Pineapple-Infused CognacPeel, core, and chop ⅓ of a ripe pineapple, and add the fruit to a jar along with 1 750 ml bottle of Cognac. Refrigerate the mixture for 5 days, then strain out the solids and bottle for use. Keeps refrigerated for up to 6 months.