🦂 Scorpio's Chalice

Ghee-washed Cognac, Champagne, toasted almond & Oudh (agarwood) smoke

Cognac
4 hrs wash
Stirred
Champagne Flute or Coupe
~14%
Farzi Café
Ingredients
  • 30ml VSOP Cognac, ghee-washed (combine 200ml Cognac with 50ml brown butter, freeze 3 hrs, strain — rich, nutty, extraordinarily smooth)
  • 20ml toasted almond orgeat (or regular orgeat)
  • 80ml dry Champagne (Brut) to top
  • Oudh (agarwood) incense stick or chips — for smoking the glass
  • Edible silver leaf & toasted almond sliver to garnish
Method
  1. 1
    Wash CognacBrown butter: heat ghee in a light-coloured pan until milk solids turn golden-brown and smell of caramel-toffee. Cool to room temperature. Combine with Cognac, stir vigorously, freeze 3+ hours until fat solidifies on top. Strain through muslin.
  2. 2
    Smoke glassLight oudh incense. Invert a Champagne flute or coupe over the smoke for 30–45 seconds. Quickly right the glass while smoke is still trapped inside.
  3. 3
    BuildAdd ghee Cognac and almond orgeat to the smoking glass. Stir gently.
  4. 4
    TopPour cold Champagne slowly over the back of a spoon.
  5. 5
    GarnishFloat a single edible silver leaf. Rest a toasted almond sliver on the edge.

About This Cocktail

Ghee (clarified butter) is one of the oldest cooking fats in human history — Vedic texts describe its use in religious ceremonies and cooking over 3,000 years ago. Brown butter (ghee taken slightly further until the milk solids caramelise) has a nutty, toffee-like flavour that transforms any spirit washed through it. Cognac — already a spirit of stone fruit, dried flowers, and wood — becomes something extraordinary when washed through brown butter: the fat extracts the spirit's heavier, more astringent compounds and replaces them with nutty-caramelised notes. Oudh (agarwood resin, used in traditional Middle Eastern and Indian perfumery) is burned at the table to smoke the glass before serving — the most theatrical garnish in this collection.

Variations

Armagnac VersionUse Armagnac instead of Cognac — the earthier, more rustic Gascon brandy with ghee produces an even richer result
Prosecco VersionReplace Champagne with Prosecco — less complex but 30% less expensive and still excellent
No SmokeSkip the smoking step — the ghee Cognac and Champagne alone are extraordinary without it
Bartender Tips

Oudh (oud/agarwood) incense is available at Indian and Middle Eastern grocery stores — it is one of the most expensive aromatic substances in the world but incense sticks are affordable. The smoked glass technique takes 30 seconds but transforms the drinking experience — the first sip through smoke is remarkable. Brown butter: heat ghee until milk solids turn a deep golden-brown (not black) — the caramelisation is what makes it work.

Source Restaurant
Restaurant
Farzi Café, Gurugram & New Delhi, India; Farzi Café, Trafalgar Square, London
Spirit
Cognac (Ghee-Washed)
Method
Stirred + smoke
ABV
~14%
Brandy & Cognac All 69 Indian Cocktails Indian Mocktails (87) Cocktails A–Z
Where to drink this
Restaurant
Farzi Café
Address
Gurugram & New Delhi, India; Trafalgar Square, London, UK
Style
Progressive Indian bistro
Accolades
International chain · founder Zorawar Kalra's flagship concept

Farzi Café is India's most internationally recognised progressive Indian concept — a restaurant that applies molecular gastronomy and modern technique to Indian street food and regional classics. The cocktail programme is equally theatrical: drinks served in unusual vessels, dramatic presentations, and flavour combinations that make Indian spices the star. Found at multiple locations across India and the UK.

Visit farzicafe.com