Recipe

• 45ml brandy

• 5ml grenadine

• 2.5ml anise spirit

• ½ a peach

• 125ml sparkling white wine

Peel and stone the peach, and purée its flesh (I used a food processor).  Put the purée into a shaker along with the brandy, grenadine and anise spirit, and plenty of ice.  Shake thoroughly, and strain into a wine glass (i.e. push it through a sieve and throw away the pulp).  Top up with the sparkling white wine (I used Cava).  Garnish with a peach slice (I forgot).

I found this recipe in a book called The Cocktail Bible in a pub in East Linton when we were recharging the car on a long journey.  We had ripening peaches at home, so I made this as soon as we got back, and it's fantastic! Exceptionally rich and complex, with every ingredient magnificently distinguishable but perfectly balanced.  This is what fizzy wine was made for! It's a pain in the arse straining the peaches, which were actually not ripe despite being in our kitchen for a fortnight, but in any case it was totally worth it.

The recipe I found asked for Pernod, which is a brand of the French anise spirit called pastis.  But for half a teaspoon, I'm guessing anything similar will do, so I used Turkish raki, which totally came through and added a lot.  I might do a special post about anise spirits at some point – I was reading some interesting stuff about how they differ, and how they've influenced each other over the years.  Watch out for that!

I'm attempting to reclaim sparkling wine for not-just-special-occasions.  It's not like it's actually that expensive, and there are loads of great drinks you can make with it, including with the cheap stuff.  I've started buying miniature bottles, since I often only want a glass or so, and it goes flat if you leave it in the fridge open.  Get me!