Angel’s Wings Cocktail

1/3 A Raspberry syrup. (Monin)
1/3 Maraschino. (Luxardo)
1/3 Crème de Violette. (Benoit-Serres Liqueur de Violette)

Use liqueur glass and poor ingredients carefully so that they do not mix.

If the girl does not like it, do not drink it, but pour it quickly into the nearest flower vase.

Strangely, this was my favorite of the layered “Angel” Coctkails. I bet it would be even better with home made Raspberry Syrup!

For posterity, I should say something about the nearly extinct European tradition of Pousse-café.

Over the holidays the in-laws got out the slide projector. I know, I know. Perhaps you too are of the age where you still shudder at the mere mention of slides. Never ending trip pictures accompanied by dry narrative and the like.

These slides were quite interesting, as they were pictures from dinner parties in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Amazing to see the elaborate table settings. Everyone seemed to have a drink soldered into their right hand from the beginning of the evening until the end. When they got to the after dinner coffee, it was fascinating to see, on the table along with a bowl of cigarettes, that they also got out the liqueur. There was a bottle of Grand Marnier, something that was potentially identified as Creme de Menthe, and others.

According to some authorities, more generally, Pousse-café, doesn’t necessarily refer to layered drinks, instead simply referring to liqueur drunk after coffee. To quote eGullet.org’s MaxH, “It’s standard informal French for a liqueur served after coffee (like something that pushes the coffee down). I’ve seen Europeans surprised to hear that US bartenders understand the word in the special sense of a layered cocktail.”

So, if you’re feeling particularly retro and decadent at your next dinner party, and no one is driving, why not get the liqueur bottles out to accompany the coffee?

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.