We first encountered the French Pear Cocktail at one of our local restaurant bars. It was part of the promotional blitz that made St. Germaine the darling of cocktail inventors for awhile. The French Pear was floral, fruity, and champagne bright—springtime in a glass—so we set about to reconstruct it.
- 1½ oz. St. Germaine Elderflower liqueur
- 1½ oz. pear vodka
- 2–3 oz. sparkling wine or champagne
Stir the St. Germaine and vodka with ice until well chilled; strain into a cold cocktail glass, and top up with champagne.
I have since seen similar formulations elsewhere on the web, and some suggest a sugar rim on the glass; that’s silly, the drink is already a bit sweet. Omit it.
Absolut Pear was the only pear vodka readily available in my shops when we started working on this formulation; it is a relatively strongly flavored infusion, and dominates the aftertaste of the drink. More recently, we’ve shifted to Grey Goose Pear; it is a softer infusion, less tart than the Absolut; I recommend it for this drink.
And if you aren’t totally committed to the “French” attributes of the drink, you can substitute any relatively light and effervescent sparkling wine, like a cava or prosecco.
“French Pear Cocktail” at cold-glass.com : All text and photos Copyright © 2010 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.
Cold Glass 
Regarding this French Pear Cocktail (sounds delicious)…call me stupid but what are you supposed to do with the champagne? Top off the cocktail glass containing the liqueur and vodka…have as a chaser :-)
Umm, well, yes, I guess I did leave that part out, geez… […fixing…] The champagne (or your favorite sparkling wine) top up the glass. It should take 2 or 3 ounces of champagne. Thanks for bringing that omission to my (formerly lacking) attention. And thanks for visiting Cold Glass!
Oh wow, I want one of these right now please. Have you ever tried to infuse your own with fresh pear?
I haven’t tried making my own infusions. The Grey Goose is really pretty good, so I guess I’ve not had the motivation.