What) St. Germain is a sweet liqueur crafted in the artisanal French style from elderberry flowers. The unusual flavor has been reckoned as containing elements of peach, orange, grapefruit, and pear. The liqueur is commonly mixed with sparkling white wine. Although St. Germain claims its primary flavor is elderberry flowers, mixologists currently claim that the primary flavor is lychee fruit. St. Germain is made in Paris, by a company dating back to 1884. The liqueur was awarded a Double Gold Medal at the 2007 San Francisco Spirits Competition. (1)

    Where) State Liquor Store   2307 East Union Street  1-206-720-3461

    Why) Larry and I arrived in Seattle on Friday morning and we immediately entered the two session qualifying game for the Nail Life Master Pairs that started at 1:00 and continued at 7:30.  For some unknown reason (probably not related to my bridge), Larry decided that he had to have a bottle of whiskey to sip from after the evening session.  Then, after receiving bad directions from the convention center staff, we finished bridge at 4:30 and ended up walking for 30 minutes around downtown Seattle trying to find the liquor store which was always “just a few blocks further.”   We eventually got somewhere (perhaps to the address above) and I was hungry and tired from all the walking.  Fortunately, this liquor store had a great selection of high end merchandise so I was able to find a wonderful bottle for my liquid and bottle collection.  After that find, the long walk back to our hotel didn't seem nearly as long.

Here is the bottle of St. Germain that I purchased.

This is my bottle collection about two months before I went to Seattle.

As you may have noticed, I emptied the bottle out and replaced the contents with blue dish soap.

Here is my collection as of the end of January.  Generally, I keep 10 bottles on the shelf and replace one per month.