In 2013, the business was sold to Bacardi, and Robert Cooper agreed to work with Bacardi as a "brand guardian" and spokesperson and died in 2016 at the age of 39. With its mysterious flavour, its gracefully grooved art deco bottle and a lovely brand mythology about how its elderflowers were harvested by little old men on bicycles in some idyllic French-speaking location way prettier than wherever you were, it wore a costume of age and continental elegance but was actually a newcomer. Twist the lemon peel over the drink (to express its oils), then drop it into the cocktail.makes one serving, Nutrition | Per serving: 200 calories, 0 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fibre, 17 g sugar. He was 39. . Cooper grew up on the east coast before crossing the country to attend college at the University of California Santa Barbara where he graduated with a degree in English with creative writing. SOLAR's 'Blog Automation' feature automatically pulls content from your blog and displays it on other parts of your site. Cooper was quick to credit bartenders for the success of the spirit, and rightfully so: They fell hard for St-Germain, which can elevate a mediocre sparkling wine, complement the tang of fresh citrus and blend beautifully with the botanicals of gin. Rob Cooper St-Germain - YouTube Bacardi Limited acquires St-Germain liqueur. http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-real-20, http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-unreal-20, http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/news-from-the-nest, http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/quail-bell-affiliates, Distill My Heart:Remembering Robert J. Cooper and His St-Germain, Press & Productions, 2021. St-Germain was created by Robert Cooper, the son of Chambord inventor Norton Sky Cooper. [2], St-Germain was created by distiller Robert Cooper, son of Norton Cooper, the owner of Charles Jacquin et Cie, after trying an elderflower-based cocktail at a London bar in 2001. He is survived by his wife, the former Kaitrin Cramm, and their two children, William and Charlotte. The younger Mr. Cooper persisted, however, going so far as to leave the family business to pursue his dream. The founder of the popular bar essential St-Germain elderflower liqueur died earlier this week.Robert J. Cooper, who introduced the hugely popular St-Germain liqueur to the cocktail. By Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. Please try again, Derek Brown met Cooper when they sat next to each other at the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) Educational Program nearly 10 years ago. Dennis Michael St. Germain Mr. St. Germain, age 51, of Charlotte, passed away on July 21, 2008. Chris Pleasance For Dailymail.com Photo courtesy of Cooper Spirits Company, used with permission. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [10], The spirit won a Grand Gold Medal at the Monde Selection in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 and the "Chairman's Award" in the Liqueur category at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2010.[11][12]. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Cooper died April 25 in California at the age of 39, leaving behind a wife and two children; the cause of his death has not been released. Mr. Cooper proved to be a savvy marketer. I would see him everywhere D.C., New York, New Orleans supporting the product and getting it off the ground., Elderflower syrup has been a thing in Europe for centuries; Cooper first came across it in bars in England, where he was inspired to develop it into a liqueur. Mr. Cooper attributed his success in part to timing. The younger Mr. Cooper persisted, however, going so far as to leave the family business to pursue his dream. Brown at the time trained primarily as a sommelier, and there to improve his skills behind the stick says he and Cooper shared a bond: Neither of us were very good bartenders. (Both initially failed a practical component of the program and had to make it up later. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The younger Cooper struck gold with the perfect storm of professional curiosity and timing, launching St-Germain in 2007. He also reintroduced Hochstadters Slow & Low to the whiskey market in 2010. According to " A Dark Muse ," this is the first confirmed mention of Saint Germain, who was kicked out of England after his release. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. He was 39. The drink itself is made from flowers of elderberry plants that grow in France and bloom for just one month of the year. As such, he was hesitant to allow Robert to use their companys resources to produce the spirit. Considered a pioneer in the cocktail world, Cooper was lauded by the liquor industry for years before he sold his uber-popular elderflower liqueur, St-Germain, to Bacardi in 2012 for an undisclosed sum. St-Germain was created by distiller Robert Cooper, son of Norton Cooper, the owner of Charles Jacquin et Cie, after trying an elderflower-based cocktail at a London bar in 2001. It was lucky, he said. His legacy is one of ingenious marketing that began as his brand was introduced in 2007 and quickly picked up speed in the cocktails and spirits circles. He is survived by his wife Kaitrin and the couple's two children William and Charlotte. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. PDT and Death & Co, two prominent New York cocktail bars, opened around the same time he introduced St-Germain. Robert James Cooper was born on Aug. 3, 1976, in Manhattan. St-Germain was invented by distiller Robert Cooper and launched in 2007 by Cooper Spirits Co, founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. The partnership, which was finalized in 1933, helped transform Jacquins into one of the worlds leading producers of liqueurs and cordials. The remaining brands within the Cooper Spirit Co. Hochstadter's Vatted Straight Rye Whiskey, Lock Stock & Barrel, another rye whiskey; Crme Yvette, a berry fruit liqueur; and Ilegal Mezcal, an artisanal Mexican mezcal for which Cooper Spirit Co is the sole U.S. importer. Even if you thought you were too good for St-Germain, you were going to have an army coming in and demanding it., I asked Brown about my impression that the use of St-Germain has been dialed back a bit over the past few years, that there was a mild bartender backlash against its ubiquity. . Instead, a year after its release, St-Germain was already a staple on bartenders back bars. Robert Cooper was also a master of predicting trends and recognized an emerging excitement for rye whiskey. The sudden death of the St-Germain founder was confirmed by Robyn Greene, senior vice president at family-owned business, the Cooper Spirits Company, in a statement to the New York Times. 13:17 EST 29 Apr 2016. Cooper died April 25 in California at the age of 39, leaving behind a wife and two. Anticipating high sales, Cooper purchased a number of barrels of Canadian rye and aged them for 13 years before releasing Lock Stock & Barrel in 2013. Bacardi Limited acquires St-Germain liqueur. When Robert returned from London and approached his father about creating an elderflower liqueur, his father was immediately skeptical. It had behind it the passion and energy of Robert Cooper, who at the time was only in his early 30s. It wouldnt have sold itself. He curried favor with influential young mixologists, sponsored cross-country bartender exchanges in which New York bartenders would guest-bartend at San Francisco bars and vice versa, hired prominent bartenders as brand ambassadors and held an annual Jazz Age lawn party on Governors Island. He was generous with his time and with his recipe for a new drink, the St-Germain cocktail. Come back to this screen and fill in the input boxes with the URL of your "Blog" page and 3 category URLs from that blog. He was 39. He said, Ill hire you back in a year when you fail, Mr. Cooper once recalled. Cooper, whose family owns Charles Jacquin et Cie, a Philadelphia-based spirits distiller and producer founded in 1884, left his family business to pursue the creation of St-Germain, an idea dismissed by his father, Norton J. Cooper. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. St-Germain creator Robert Cooper shares why he thinks the brand will truly be an international brand as part of . . He curried favor with influential young mixologists, sponsored cross-country bartender exchanges in which New York bartenders would guest-bartend at San Francisco bars, and vice versa, hired prominent bartenders as brand ambassadors and held an annual Jazz Age lawn party on Governors Island. In 2012 drinks giant Bacardi came knocking and bought St Germain for an undisclosed sum. Around the time that St-Germain was introduced, the craft cocktail revolution was gaining traction and a new, creative crop of bartenders were eager to experiment with exotic ingredients. (His older brother John, also independently, brought the popular ginger liqueur Domaine de Canton to market.) We've received your submission. The elderflower liqueur was an instant success, and chances are that if you like cocktails, you've probably had one that included St-Germain. The St. Germain brand was acquired by Bacardi in 2012. Anyone can read what you share. ", "St. Germain Liqueur: What It Is, And What To Do With It", "The Story Behind St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur", "Robert J. Cooper, 39, Creator of Popular Elderflower Liqueur, Dies", "Liqueur Saint-Germain (St-Germain): concept, how to drink, cocktails", "The Cooper Spirits Company - Linked In profile", "St-Germain Elderflower Liquor Acquired By Bacardi, Plans To Go Global", "St-Germain Launches Holidays Series, Salon St-Germain", "St-Germain Is Ushering in New York City's Creative Renaissance", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St-Germain_(liqueur)&oldid=1135574548, This page was last edited on 25 January 2023, at 14:37. It was a little bit pear, a little bit litchi, a little bit like youd stuck your head into a roadside hedgerow and inhaled air thick with early-summer honeysuckle. Part of HuffPost Food & Drink. In 2007, Cooper launched the elderflower liqueur, similar to ones he had seen in London, and by 2008, bartenders across the country considered it a staple of their repertoire. The brand was eventually sold to Bacardi in 2012, but Cooper wasn't content resting on his laurels. Launched in 2007 by third-generation distiller Robert J. Cooper, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur kickstarted an elderflower craze that would span the next decade and a half and revived a sleepy liqueur industry. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Read more about cookies here. Add the champagne or sparkling white wine, then the elderflower liqueur. In addition launching his own spirits brand, the Cooper Spirits Co., Cooper was known for hosting bartender exchange programs between New York City and San Francisco, as well as the annual Jazz Age lawn party on New York City's Governor's Island. He anticipated the boom in rye whiskey by buying barrels of prime Canadian stock and then sitting on the liquid for years before releasing Lock Stock & Barrel, a 13-year-old straight rye whiskey, in 2013. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Robert J Cooper, the creator of elderflower liqueur St-Germain the he sold to Bacardi back in 2012, has died at home in Santa Barbara, California, aged 39. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, His death was confirmed Thursday by the New York Times. They wanted something different they could work with that had integrity. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. He moved to Charlott View Details. Robert Cooper is survived by his wife, Katie, and their two children William Thor and Charlotte Rose. Robert Cooper was a businessman who built his company on humility, positive thinking, collaboration, a creative approach to problem solving. Cocktail bartenders, hungry for new ingredients and flavors to work with, tossed it into every other new drink. Now you can go to Whole Foods and get elderflower soft drinks., Robert J. Cooper, creator of St-Germain elderflower liqueur, dies, Horoscope for Saturday, 3/04/23 by Christopher Renstrom, Snowboarder dies at Tahoe ski resort following historic blizzard, West I-80 closed near Tahoe due to snow and 'multiple spinouts', Wife of Jeffrey Vandergrift issues somber update, Even Salesforces tower HQ isnt safe from office cuts, Horoscope for Friday, 3/03/23 by Christopher Renstrom, Inside Harry and Meghans favorite In-N-Out, Massive Lake Tahoe waterfront compound slashes price by $20M, Mochi muffin bakery closes SF cafe after just 4 months, This beloved East Bay hybrid cafe and bike shop is closing, 14 things you need in your car before you drive to Tahoe, In search of vegan food, I found a world-class Mendocino inn, You can see Maggie Rogers in SF for under $100 this weekend, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Completed Graduate School. In broader terms, it helped resuscitate the dormant liqueur business. St-Germain was created by Robert Cooper, the son of Chambord inventor Norton "Sky" Cooper. Top with the club soda or seltzer, as needed to fill. Each year when the flowers blossom in late May, farmers spend roughly three to four weeks gathering the blooms that will be used to produce the liqueur. Access all of our expanded, online-only, subscriber exclusive opinion writing. The Art Deco-esque appearance of the bottle also serves as a nod to the bustling Parisian quarter the brand hopes to provide an experience reminiscent of the Roaring Twenties, when Saint-Germain-des-Prs was at its creative peak. The sum was not revealed, but Mr. Cooper said it was more than I expected to see in a lifetime.. If you are a Home delivery print subscriber, unlimited online access is. Though he would ultimately settle next to the Pacific, it was Cooper's experiences in Europe that would inspire his most successful business idea. In addition to being a great aperitif to throw in a spritz, St-Germain is considered to be a great modifying liqueur, altering the flavor profile of the liquor it is added to. Cooper died at home in Santa Barbara, California, on Monday according to Robyn Greene, the senior vice president of marketing and innovation at his spirits firm. For St-Germain, liqueur is thicker than water. Cooper worked his drink on to bar menus by getting it into the hands of young, influential mixologists, and sponsoring cross-country bartender swaps at famous institutions. In 2006 Cooper introduced the burgeoning cocktail industry to his new liqueur and it quickly became known as 'bartenders' ketchup' because of its popularity. Coopers other cocktail creations included Crme Yvette liqueur and Hochstadters Slow & Low, a throwback to the Rock & Rye, a 19th-century cocktail of rye sweetened with rock candy. It pairs well with almost every spirit, making it incredibly versatile behind the bar. Chris Pleasance For Dailymail.com, The ultimate sign of respect: Revered Buddhist monk is mummified and covered in gold leaf to become a shrine in China, It really is last orders! In fact Cooper Sr. was so convinced the product would flop he told his son he would hire him back in a year 'when you fail', the New York Times reports. Mr. Cooper went on to return to circulation bygone bar ingredients like Creme Yvette, a berry-violet liqueur, and Hochstadters Slow & Low, a form of the common 19th century drink rock and rye. 2012 verkaufte Cooper St-Germain an Bacardi. The cause of his death is so far unknown. 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. Born in South Bend, IN he was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, as a Data Systems Tech. Robert J. Cooper, whose unusual elderflower liqueur, St-Germain, introduced in 2007, was so completely embraced by the cocktail community that it became known as bartenders ketchup, died on Monday in Santa Barbara, Calif. When Cooper responded by leaving the family business behind, his father allegedly told him, Ill hire you back in a year when you fail. As his luck would have it, he did not fail. Mr. Cooper proved to be a savvy marketer. Those who had the pleasure of meeting him noted his kind personality. Robert Cooper was a businessman who built his company on humility, positive thinking, collaboration, a creative approach to problem solving. Inspired by his floral-scented success, Robert Cooper was keen to revive previously popular brands from hibernation. A 1994 graduate of Aspen High School, and a former, two-year member of the U.S. The year 2016 has been a series of gut-punches. In 2012, he sold St-Germain to Bacardi Ltd. April in Santa Barbara in Kalifornien verstarb, rechtgegeben. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. St-Germain quickly became a huge success, favored by bartenders and customers. But success was not guaranteed. He didnt fail. Junior National Snowboarding team, Rob Cooper joined the family business in 1999, just after finishing his college career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Robert J. Cooper is a third generation distiller who founded The Cooper Spirits Co. in 2006. He is survived by his wife, the former Kaitrin Cramm, and their two children, William and Charlotte. Crme Yvettes production halted in 1969 but relaunched to the liqueur market in 2010. This practice allows producers to ensure that the elderflower blossoms are only just beginning to open, meaning the aromas and flavors of the buds will be at their most prominent. Staying true to his legacy of liqueurs, he also reintroduced Crme Yvette, a berry-violet liqueur, from his family's Charles Jacquin et Cie imprint. It was Robert Cooper's passionate work that made the elderflower liqueur wildly popular. Cooper, a third-generation distiller whose family lineage includes the birth of Crme Yvette and Chambord is most commonly known for creating St-Germain elderflower liqueur. When Cooper unveiled his new idea to his father, also a liqueur magnate, he was convinced the idea was a non-starter. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. A vague, anti-drag bill in Tennessee has bar and restaurant owners worried for their future, By submitting your email, you agree to our, Creator of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur Dead at39. But one of its best-known roles is in the not-so-creatively named St-Germain Cocktail, which was invented by the company itself and has been unusually, enduringly popular for a drink of such provenance. It had behind it the passion and energy of Robert Cooper, who at the time was only in his early 30s. Sure, Brown acknowledged but the most popular Beatles songs probably get a backlash, too. Nachdem der Likr 2007 erstmals der ffenlichkeit vorgestellte wurde hat St-Germain in den Folgejahren einige Goldmedaillen eingeheimst und war in der Barszene allgegenwrtig. Robert J. Cooper, whose unusual elderflower liqueur, St-Germain, introduced in 2007, was so completely embraced by the cocktail community that it became known as "bartender's ketchup," died. Activates category 2 section on 'Solar' page layout (e.g., https://www.mysite.com/blog/category/cat.html). The death of Robert J. Cooper, the creator of elderflower liqueur St-Germain, is tough news for cocktail lovers everywhere. Activates Owl carousel slider, ticker, breadcrumbs and latest posts (e.g., https://www.mysite.com/blog.html). Now that you know the basics, here are eight more things you should know about St-Germain. Each bottle of St-Germain contains up to 1,000 elderflower blossoms, all of which are handpicked annually. interview. That young entrepreneur was Robert J. Cooper, who sadly passed away this week at the early age of 39. Cooper was born into a family with a rich history in the spirits business, but instead of. Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. Presumed owner of the real estate located at 305 Arlene Dr, Fort Collins. His brand Cooper Spirits also makes Crme Yvette, a violet liqueur brought back from obscurity, and serves as the U.S. sales arm for Ilegal brand mezcal. Now you can go to Whole Foods and get elderflower soft drinks., Robert J. Cooper, 39, Creator of Popular Elderflower Liqueur, Dies, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/business/robert-j-cooper-39-creator-of-st-germain-elderflower-liqueur-dies.html. Robert St Germain We found 100+ records for Robert St Germain in FL, VA and 33 other states. Years later, he pops up in the court of French king Louis XV but, after a brief bout with serious political influence and infighting, he fled back to England.