I asked Julien Freed to make me something for the heat, and he reached for a tall red-labeled bottle I hadn't seen behind the bar at Roch's Reprieve before.
"This is a new classic cocktail," he said. "It's only been around about the last three years, since this product was developed."
The product is Juliette, a French peach liqueur made from pêche de vigne, the small heirloom vineyard peach with the scarlet blush inside it. The peaches are hand-picked in the Rhône Valley in late July, macerated whole in eau-de-vie for up to five weeks, then blended with sugar and three-year-old French brandy. It comes in at 18 percent. That's a lot of process for a bottle of peach liqueur, and you can taste where it went.
Julien's pitch for the drink is a history lesson. "During the '90s martini boom, the peachtini got very popular," he said. "Peach liqueur, vodka, lemon. That's it. This is basically bringing it up to a whole new level."
The build takes about ninety seconds. A shot of vodka. Then the Juliette, measured somewhere between a half ounce and three quarters, into a chilled coupe with a lemon twist already waiting in it.
"This stuff is strong, and it's got a lot of flavor," he said. "You really don't want to overdo it."
Most people get a little simple syrup in theirs. I don't drink cocktails that way, and Julien knows it, so he skipped the simple and brought the Juliette up to a full three quarters instead. Then he shook it hard, longer than he needed to, and told me why.
"I want to just shake it and pour it. Really get it cold," he said. "This time I can just stand here and look cool in my little boat anchor shirt."
He is, in fact, wearing a shirt covered in anchors.
The long shake melts a little ice into the drink, which is the point. It opens the peach up and takes the edge off the liqueur. He single-strained it, so a few ice chips came along for the ride.
"Some people double strain. I don't think it's necessary for this one," he said. "I like ice chunks."
He was going to add lemon juice and then talked himself out of it. He'd cut the twist thick, and when he squeezed it over the glass it carried enough oil and acid to do the job on its own.
He was right. It's juicy, it tastes like biting into a peach, and it finishes with a pop of acidity instead of sugar. It's a martini glass full of summer and it doesn't wear you out.
If you want one, Roch's Reprieve is the bar in the middle of the market at 2381 St. Claude Ave. Happy hour runs Monday through Friday, 3 to 5: $1 oysters from Salted Pearl Oyster Bar, $4 beers, $7 house wines. Ask Julien for the Juliette, and tell him whether you want the simple in it or not.