Monday 5 October 2015

Cocktail hour



I was first introduced to the utterly divine St-Germain liqueur through the equally divine Michelle from Shell Belle Couture. Whilst visiting the boudoir a little while ago she handed me this beautiful bottle. It was love at first sight just. I know packaging is not everything, and we shouldn't 'judge a book by its cover' but I was in love with this drink before even trying it! The bottle is just gorgeous and looks so pretty sitting in my drinks cabinet. As it turns out it tastes truly scrumptious too! I have since been obsessed with it (Thanks very much Michelle) and have tried all sorts of cocktails with it being the main ingredient, but the original is my favourite...so far.
According St-Germain, the elegant liqueur house in France,
To live the life of a bon vivant, one must learn to adopt a modicum of insouciance and elegance. Beginning with the apéritif. The apéritif's purpose is to stimulate ones appetite and prepare for the inevitable joys to come. Stimulate, not inebriate. To accomplish this worthy and appreciable aim can be easily achieved by the following;
THE ST-GERMAIN COCKTAIL
2 measures Champagne
1 1/2 measures St-Germain
2 measures Club Soda

Fill a tall Collins glass with ice. Add Champagne first, then St-Germain, then Club Soda, stir and garnish with a lemon twist. This order is essential to a traditional St-Germain classic cocktail.

Something beautiful and delicate from the Shell Belle collection to float around in whilst sipping my St-Germain cocktail would be this Lace fishtail slip from the new collection 'Love story'. It is due to be delivered any day now, I can't wait, it will be beautiful worn as an under layer to my  longer length winter dresses to. Look how decadent the bottle is, looks like I need a new bottle, its nearly finished oops, only a drop of the elderflower nectar is left by the looks of it! 






On my last trip to one of my favourite places to visit some of my favourite people we visited this now one of my favourite bars. 
PDT- aka Please Don't Tell in the East Village. Not such a secret anymore...oh my, if you are ever in New York City, I highly recommend you have a cocktail (or 2 or 3 or...) in this hidden bar. It is how I imagine the traditional speakeasy joints were back in the roaring 1920s. One of the most exciting parts of visiting this place is the entrance. When we first turned up outside (bear in mind we are all dressed up for our Saturday night out) we were in front of a hot dog shop- the equivalent to one of London's dodgy kebab places. Small, dingy, dirty, I could go on...But then the exciting part happens, but this part only if you have made a reservation and luckily enough my darling friend had. The telephone line opens at 3pm on the day and you book your table for that night- it took 45 minutes and trillions of redials, but a booking was made! So we gingerly entered the dodgy hot dog shop and headed to the telephone booth on the left, picked up the phone, gave our name, we were allowed to enter. Once in we drank our way  through the entire cocktail list, for the life of me I cannot remember what was drunk, I do remember big ice cubes and that the cocktails were delicious. It was a wonderful night, we finished the glamorous drinking off with some pizza (not hot dogs)! Below is a picture of the actual telephone you ring for entry.







As I have mentioned before, and if you are a follower on any of Tallulah's social media; Instagram Face Book or Twitter you will be more than aware of my love for the beautiful silk gowns from Independent Canadian silk company Christine that Tallulah is very privileged to be the only European stockists of. This autumn the colour palette from the collection is rich and sensual jewel-like  tones, here is a picture of the gorgeous Peacock silk trimmed in Midnight lace. This is the sort or outfit I relax at home in, At the end of a long day either in the boudoir, out and about viewing new collections or simply running errands I cannot wait to get home just for my second outfit change of the day, and one of my many Christine gowns are my go to most evenings. I'm thinking a warming Japanese Whiskey would suit my mood tonight, some sort of cocktail with Nikka Whiskey in it. Being introduced to Japanese Whiskey last Christmas was an amazing experience. I always insisted on not liking Whiskey and BAMMMM along comes Nikka Whiskey From The Barrel (Thanks again Sanchia)! It was created back in the 1980s for the Japanese market, Nikka From The Barrel is a blend of two single malts and a grain whiskey and it is sexily superb.
If you are yet to try it, please, I encourage you to have a little nip in a beautifully heavy tumbler, either straight or over ice with a splash of water which helps to bring the flavour subtly out. Honest, it is no normal Whiskey.




 Below is a fresh bottle I have at home ready to be opened and slowly sipped in front of an open fire tonight. The bottle is sleek and masculine, no fuss or soft curves, the complete opposite to the St Germain opulent and dramatic bottle. 




    


Keeping the glamorous 1920s theme- May I introduce you to
these beautiful handmade in the UK Ethical Candles. Something that I will be burning not only in the boudoir in the chilly autumn months but at home whilst sipping my cocktails. I love all the scents but particularly the Tbilisi and are available from the boudoir in 4 beautiful scents TBILISI-Pomegranate,Tarragon & Walnut, EL CAPITAN-Amber Cedar & Rosewood, SAMADHI- Karpura,Tulsi & Rose and SWEET BEGINNINGS- Lavender, Manuka Honey & Cocoa. 
The storm is on its way, and I can't wait to go home for a cocktail or 2 and to slip into something more comfortable. Whatever you are doing this evening, hope its wonderfully divine. 
Until next time-
T x