Pompier
ClassicDry vermouth, blackcurrant liqueur, and soda. Paris's off-menu firehouse cocktail.
Dry and herbal from the vermouth, rounded out by cassis's dark-berry sweetness and lengthened by soda into something closer to a spritz than a cocktail. Light, faintly bittersweet, and easy to keep drinking.
Ingredients
- 3 oz Dry Vermouth
- 0.5 oz Crème de Cassis
- 3 oz Soda Water
- Lemon twist · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Fill a highball glass with cubed ice.
- 2
Pour in the dry vermouth and crème de cassis.
- 3
Top with soda water and stir once, gently.
- 4
Garnish with a lemon twist.
The Story
The Pompier — French for "firefighter" — takes its name from the Paris fire station reputedly next door to the bar where it was invented, dry vermouth and cassis said to have been the off-duty drink of choice for the *pompiers* who worked there. It never traveled far outside France, remaining one of those café-counter drinks locals order by name while everyone else asks what's in it — low-proof, herbal, and built for an entire afternoon at a sidewalk table.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
