Saffron Chase

Adapted from NOPI: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully

Anything that involves Champagne needs to be served in an ice-cold glass. In order to get it as cold as it needs to be, you can either pop your flutes into the freezer for a couple of hours or, as we do in NOPI, simply fill the glasses with crushed ice and leave for 2 minutes before tipping the ice out into the sink.

Chase is a single-estate English distiller based in Herefordshire producing gin, vodka, and various liqueurs that, in our search for the finest, we love to use. There are other brands out there which are good, though: St-Germain elderflower, for example.

This is a nice and easy cocktail to make. You don’t even have to stir the ingredients in a mixing glass, if you don’t want to: you can just pour the ingredients straight into a chilled glass. With thanks to Niall Downey.

Reprinted with permission from NOPI: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully, copyright © 2015. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Ingredients

Servings: 2

  • 2/3 ounce Chase gin
  • 2/3 ounce Chase gin
  • 2/3 ounce Chase elderflower liqueur
  • 2/3 ounce Chase elderflower liqueur
  • 2/3 ounce lemon juice
  • 2/3 ounce lemon juice
  • 2/3 ounce saffron syrup (See Editor's Note)
  • 2/3 ounce saffron syrup (See Editor's Note)
  • 6 3/4 ounces Champagne, ice-cold
  • 6 3/4 ounces Champagne, ice-cold

Directions
  1. Place the gin, elderflower liqueur, and lemon juice in a mixing glass.
  2. Fill the glass half full with ice cubes and stir five times to the left and five times to the right with a spoon. It’s important to get the stirring right here—not too much and not too little—so that you don’t bring too much dilution to the drink.
  3. Strain into the chilled Champagne flutes.
  4. Stir 1/3 ounce of saffron syrup into each glass, top with the Champagne, and serve at once.
Editor's Note

Saffron Syrup:

1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
1/2 tsp saffron

Place the sugar in a small saucepan with 1 cup of water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the saffron and continue to simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool before transferring into a mason jar or another sealed jar. Store in the fridge until ready to use—it will keep for up to 3 weeks.