Photo Taken by Hayley Sanchez
By Hayley Sanchez
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, you may be searching for a cocktail recipe to make for your partner, friends or maybe just yourself. The Downtowner met with local D.C. mixologist and founder of Buffalo and Bergen, Gina Chersevani, to learn how to make Lover’s Delight, one of her signature Valentine’s Day cocktails.
Follow the “OG” version of the recipe below if you’re feeling fancy and want to make the cocktail the same way as Chersevani herself. Otherwise, use the basic version to learn how to make a simpler — but still spectacular — version of the Lover’s Delight cocktail. Chersevani has been bartending since college and has made her mark in Washington, D.C. working at several popular bars around town and developing her signature cocktail recipes throughout the years.
Buffalo and Bergen, at Union Market, will host “Lover’s Delight, Cocktails at Night” on Valentine’s weekend, Feb. 12-14. A combination of four cocktails will be served for $40, including Lover’s Delight. Reservations are required and seating is limited.
Contact 202-543-2549, or email amy@buffalobergendc.com, to reserve your spot, or check out the events section at UnionmarketDC.com.
BASIC VERSION
• 1 oz. Burnt lemon
• 2 oz. Courvoisier VSOP Cognac
• 1 oz. Burnt Vanilla Demerara syrup*
• Brown Sugar
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Fill shaker 3/4 full of ice. Shake hard and strain into a coupe glass rimmed with brown sugar. Enjoy!
• 1 oz. Burnt lemon
• 2 oz. Courvoisier VSOP Cognac
• 1 oz. Burnt Vanilla Demerara syrup*
• Brown Sugar
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Fill shaker 3/4 full of ice. Shake hard and strain into a coupe glass rimmed with brown sugar. Enjoy!
OG VERSION
• Wooden cedar board
• Blowtorch
• 1 oz. Burnt lemon infused with licorice root, African cardamom, and chiona bark
• A splash of Absinthe
• 2 oz. Courvoisier VSOP Cognac
• 1 oz. Burnt Vanilla Demerara syrup*
• Brown Sugar
• Wooden cedar board
• Blowtorch
• 1 oz. Burnt lemon infused with licorice root, African cardamom, and chiona bark
• A splash of Absinthe
• 2 oz. Courvoisier VSOP Cognac
• 1 oz. Burnt Vanilla Demerara syrup*
• Brown Sugar
Splash a little absinthe on the wooden cedar board. You only need enough to make a small area of the board damp. Grab a pinch of the licorice root, African cardamom and chiona bark, and make a pile of the three mixed together on the board. Place pile on top of where you wet the board with the absinthe. Splash a little more absinthe onto the pile.
Light the pile on fire. Place the lemon slice on the pile to smoke. Using a glass, cover the pile. The fire will go out and the glass will begin to fill with smoke. Wait a minute or until there is no more smoke in the glass. Remove glass. (This was very cool to see.)
Use a lemon squeezer to squeeze 1 oz. of lemon juice into a shaker. Mix all other ingredients into the shaker. Fill 3/4 of shaker with ice. Shake hard and strain into a coupe glass rimmed with brown sugar. Enjoy!
*How to make Burnt Vanilla Demerara syrup:
In a pot, cook two cups of scorched Demerara sugar, 1 cup water, 1 scraped Tahitian vanilla bean, cook until sugar dissolves, strain, and reserve liquid for cocktails.
In a pot, cook two cups of scorched Demerara sugar, 1 cup water, 1 scraped Tahitian vanilla bean, cook until sugar dissolves, strain, and reserve liquid for cocktails.
