Homoapolis: a drink to cool you down part2

7/26/11

a drink to cool you down part2

HOMO:drink

Basil Lillet (Gin, Lillet Blanc, fresh Basil & tonic) @ Barbette

When it gets hot and gross out, some people lock themselves in their home with the AC set to deep freeze, others hit the town to find a refreshing adult beverage... (guess which one we did)

We visited Barbette and had their perfect summer cocktail, the Basil Lillet.

WTF is Lillet???

well it's French, so it MUST be Classy

Lillet (French pronunciation: [li'le]) is a brand of French aperitif wine. It is a blend of 85% Bordeaux wines (Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle for the Blanc; Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon)and 15% macerated liqueurs, mostly citrus liqueurs from the peels of sweet oranges from Spain and Morocco and the peels of bitter green oranges from Haiti.

Lillet belongs in a family of aperitif known as tonic wines because of the addition of a liqueur of Chinchona bark from Peru which contains quinine. Lillet is matured in oak casks and available in red and white versions. While it has been produced since the late 19th century, the current formulation dates from 1986.

Barbette's Cocktail list

"In Ian Fleming's 1953 novel Casino Royale, James Bond invents and orders a Kina Lillet martini, which he named the "Vesper" after his love interest in the story. He asks the bartender for a dry Martini, a fraction of a second later he adds to the order: "Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet." It is present in both the Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace films (potentially anachronistically, since Kina Lillet has not been made since 1986 and the bars would need to have an old bottle in stock). It is also the preferred drink of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the series of books written by Thomas Harris." -Via

So you can order a lillet styled beverage and pretend your James Bond...(or I guess Hannibal Lector too)