Loft Lavender Cello Liqueur

The list of organic spirits has seen considerable growth over recent years and one of the companies making a breakthrough is New Deal Distillery. Beyond their certified organic vodkas the west coast distiller has a line of organic liqueurs produced in the "cello" style of sweet Italian liqueurs. If you are familiar with and a fan of lemoncello and one of the most popular herbs, Loft's Lavender Cello is going to make a splash in your bar and open up a whole new door to cocktails that you may have overlooked.

It is no secret that lavender is one of my favorite herbs. It is relaxing and refreshing, and gives the spirit a feeling of rejuvenation. It also happens to be a wonderful flavor for food and drink. Often I have succumb to having to create my own lavender mixers for cocktails, typically in a lavender infused vodka or lavender syrup, but this cello from Loft is the best of both worlds in one small bottle.

The uses of Loft Lavender Cello are more numerous than one may think. For one, its sweetness can be used in any cocktail that calls for a lavender-infused syrup. The sweetness of the liqueur does not equal that of a straight sugar syrup, but is just enough and probably leads itself to those with not-so-sweet tastes. One of my favorite adaptations is with my own cocktail, the Vanilla Rose. In this drink I use about a 1/2 oz total of the lavender cello, using the small amount for muddling and adding the rest in the shaken mix.

So far this lavender liqueur is unique to the commercial market and this is where we have to become even more creative than using it in place of a non-alcoholic syrup, though this doesn't mean getting overly complex. When I first tasted Loft Lavender Cello at Tales of the Cocktail in 2009 I knew there was something special in it and, before anything else was done I took the mini bottles back to my hotel to play with the possibilities. One that stood out to me became a pursuit of perfection in creating a drink I call Herbal Pleasures in which I pair it with a London dry gin and Chartreuse. You could also adapt a recipe that calls for a homemade lavender-infused vodka by using 50-75% clear vodka and the remaining employing this lavender liqueur.

Because it is so much like a lemoncello - minus the lemon, of course - other options for Loft Lavender Cello include anywhere that you would use a lemoncello but want to skip the citrus for an herbal alternative. This includes any of the lemoncello cocktails, but also its use in cooking and baking. I have tried it in Carroll Pellingrelli's Blueberry Lemoncello Cake and it is fabulous. Plus there is always the popular cello option of simply using it as an ice cream topping, which is a refreshing alternative to "boring-old" caramel or chocolate.

Tasting Notes:
Loft Lavender Cello has a silver hue that is nice and bright. It is not as think as many cellos and invites you in with a woody lavender aroma, just as if you passed by a large lavender plant and swept its fragrance into the summertime air. The taste is a perfectly sweet lavender with a hint of citrus and wood, yet the lavender shines moreso than it does in many other lavender spirits. The smooth body leads to a pleasant, clean finish enjoyably lacking the sticky syrup aspect many cellos have.