L'HEURE BLEUE

I first developed this cocktail years ago for The Walrus and the Carpenter, a tiny oyster bar tucked into Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, known for its cheeky personality and hyperlocal approach to food. It was shortly after a trip to southern France for Jason and Adrienne’s wedding, when we stayed with a big group of friends and family in a rather grand medieval gîte that was, for the record, most certainly haunted.

More than anything, I remember the smells. Citrus flowers, ripe stone fruits, olives, and herbs seemed almost palpable in the air, carried everywhere by the mightly Mistral that whipped through during our stay. Certain combinations of flavors have a strange ability to transport you back in time, and even now, this one immediately brings me back to France.

A special note about the Orange Bitters Blend included in the recipe, which also hails from this same chapter of my life. Sure, any old orange bitters will do, but after nearly a decade of teaching apéritif and cocktail classes at a popular cooking school in Seattle, I became pretty convinced that this blend is simply the best.

Somewhere along the way in my aperitif classes, I started having everyone taste three orange bitters side by side: Angostura, Fee Brothers and Regans’. It was always surprising how little they tasted alike. Angostura is funky and assertive, Fee Brothers is sweet and almost candy-like, and Regans’ is heavy on cardamom and spice. Then we’d taste all three blended together, and somehow the quirks of each balanced out the others. Almost without fail, the blend was the favorite. After nearly a decade of remarkably consistent results, I haven’t been able to top it.

L’Heure Bleue is the blue hour, that brief stretch of twilight between sunset and nightfall - and, conveniently, a very good time for a spritz. - ANNA WALLACE

Plum & White Wine Spritz

Makes 1 cocktail

1 ounce Plum Soda
3 ounces dry Pierrevert Blanc
2 dashes orange bitter blend
½ bar spoon dry curaçao

Orange twist, for garnish

Fill a wine glass with ice. Add the plum soda, wine, orange bitters and dry curaçao and stir gently to combine. Garnish with an orange twist.

PLUM SYRUP

4 large black plums, pitted and roughly chopped
1 cup prune juice
¼ cup raw cane sugar
½ teaspoon citric acid
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt

Combine the plums, prune juice and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the plums are completely soft.

Remove from the heat and crush the plums into a pulp. Cool to room temperature, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Stir in the citric acid and salt. Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 5 days.

To make the plum soda: Combine 2 parts plum syrup with 1 part chilled seltzer water.

ORANGE BITTER BLEND

Makes 14 ounces

5 ounces Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
5 ounces Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6
4 ounces Angostura Orange Bitters

Remove the dasher tops from each bottle. Combine all three bitters in a measuring cup or small pitcher and stir well.

Using a funnel, return the blend to the original bitters bottles and replace the dasher tops. Be sure to label the bottles so you know they contain the blend.

Store indefinitely at room temperature.