56 replies to this topic

[foodhunter]

Anyone know where I can get my hands of a bottle of Suze in NY? Pegu's doing a White Negroni with it and I love the stuff.

[eas]

I've only seen it in California; not sure who distributes in New York. Why not ask next time you're in Pegu? Perhaps someone with ready access to a NY Bev Media guide could check?

[bostonapothecary]

I've only seen it in California; not sure who distributes in New York.  Why not ask next time you're in Pegu?  Perhaps someone with ready access to a NY Bev Media guide could check?

what is Suze? and elaborate on the white negroni plz... sounds tasty....

[eje]

Suze is a French gentian based bitter.

I guess it is similar to Campari, with a heavier tilt toward gentian than quinine in the bittering agents.

slkinsey had comments here in the Aperol topic:

Suze is very interesting, albeit an acquired taste. To me there is a definite mold or old socks component to the aftertaste, but others don't agree. I have had several cocktails made with Suze at Pegu Club -- the one that sticks in my mind was called a "White Negroni."

Even though eas sez it is available in CA, I've not seen it up here lately.

Last time I asked (earlier this year) at a liquor store that had carried it, I was told that the distributor or importer had gone out of business.

[jmfangio]

Du Vin here in Los Angeles lists it in stock. They're one of the best wine stores in LA, and they have a small, but interesting, selection of spirits.

[David Santucci]

Thanks for the tip jmfangio. I have been searching high and low for Suze ever since visiting Pegu Club, where I had it in an absolutely fantastic Champagne cocktail called the Petit Mort.

[foodhunter]

I had asked at Pegu and was told Suze may not be available in the U.S. at all. But the fact that they have it at Du Vin is good news.

[foodhunter]

I've only seen it in California; not sure who distributes in New York.  Why not ask next time you're in Pegu?  Perhaps someone with ready access to a NY Bev Media guide could check?

what is Suze? and elaborate on the white negroni plz... sounds tasty....

Pegu's White Negroni is done with gin, Suze and Lillet Blanc. I find it perfectly balanced, and really nice for the summer.

[jmfangio]

Pegu's White Negroni is done with gin, Suze and Lillet Blanc.  I find it perfectly balanced, and really nice for the summer.

Now I'm going to have to pick up a bottle for myself, if y'all haven't cleaned them out by the time I get there. Two questions about the White Negroni: do you know if the proportions are 1:1:1 as in the classic Negroni, and what's the garnish, if any?

[phlip]

Proportions are 1.5 gin (plymouth works well)
1 lillet
.75 suze

Charles at the lonsdale in london made me a great variation using noilly pratt amber and orange bitters. But alas one cannot get the amber either.

Does anyone know if that liquor store in LA that has Suze ships?

[Scotttos]

Does anyone know if that liquor store in LA that has Suze ships?

Just checked their shipping page, looks like it's a go for NY.

[Luna Calvados]

I purchased a couple of bottles of Suze years ago, but do not remember where, probably in Massachusetts. Has Suze suddenly gotten hard to find? Is there a problem with French imports? I had trouble getting Marie Brizard Apry liqueur for about six months and then suddenly it became available again.

You may want to check out the website of Vintage Wine & Spirits located in Mill Valley, CA, Phone (415) 388-1626:

http://www.vintagewines.biz/index.cfm

They list Suze under the Liqueur heading @ $26.99/bottle:

http://www.vintagewi.....data_ Liqueur

I do not know if they ship to NY State, but you might try them.

Good luck. And Cheers!

[eje]

Cool!

Mill Valley is even closer than LA.

Hmm... Though, perhaps it is time to check again with the local liquor stores. If they have it in Mill Valley, it seems like someone should have it in San Francisco...

[Luna Calvados]

Cool!

Mill Valley is even closer than LA.

Hmm...  Though, perhaps it is time to check again with the local liquor stores.  If they have it in Mill Valley, it seems like someone should have it in San Francisco...

It certainly seems so. I usually have success finding such unusual items at the website of K & L Wine Merchants in San Francisco, and then have them shipped to me in NY State, but I do not see Suze listed anywhere on their website. Maybe there are limited bottles available in the U.S., if there is indeed a problem with the importer or distributor.

[jmfangio]

Proportions are 1.5 gin (plymouth works well)
1 lillet
.75 suze

Charles at the lonsdale in london made me a great variation using noilly pratt amber and orange bitters. But alas one cannot get the amber either.

Thanks for the recipe! I'll try to pick up a bottle of Suze this week and give it a whirl.

I wasn't even aware that there was an Amber Noilly Prat. Unfortunately, according to Wikipedia, "AMBER NOILLY PRAT is only available for purchase from Noilly Prat in its shop in Marseillan."

[eje]

An friend informed me that he managed to track down the current importer of Suze:

"House of Burgundy Imports in NYC"

http://www.thehouseofburgundy.com/

Looks like they import Byrrh, as well!

[eje]

I had a local liquor store check into this.

They assured me that Suze is definitely not available in the US at this time.

Perhaps those stores that have it are just selling through remaining stock.

[jmfangio]

Stopped by Du Vin today to pick up my bottle of Suze and asked, "Hey, have you been selling a lot of this lately?"

"Are you kidding? I sold two cases yesterday!"

Spoke to the owner and the manager for a bit - they bought 110 bottles when their importer announced that they were going to stop carrying it, and they're down to about 20 bottles after my purchase. I also told them about this thread, and how it may have contributed to clearing them out.

Tomorrow evening's game plan: come home from yoga, shower, rehydrate, White Negroni!

Edit: The owner also said that for years he's been trying to get his hands on some Amer Picon, but no luck so far.

Edited by eje, 17 August 2007 - 02:38 PM.

[eje]

A friend was kind enough to stop by Vintage Wines and pick up one of their last bottles of Suze and bring it down to San Francisco.

The Suze is very strongly Gentian flavored without many of the other spice elements which make Campari so enjoyable.

Is there a garnish for the White Negroni? Peel or anything?

[Scotttos]

Is there a garnish for the White Negroni?  Peel or anything?

Lemon twist I believe.

[cdh]

Just had a chance to taste some Suze and am quite enamoured with its flavor. It is very root-y or bulb-y flavored, quite remniscent of strong ginseng teas and echinacea tinctures I've tasted in the past. It has a bittersweet, earthy flavor, but I get nothing in the way of decay from it as had been mentioned upthread. It doesn't have the band-aid phenolics to qualify as medicinal to my taste buds either.

The white negroni idea seems like a lovely drink.

[bostonapothecary]

Just had a chance to taste some Suze and am quite enamoured with its flavor.  It is very root-y or bulb-y flavored, quite remniscent of strong ginseng teas and echinacea tinctures I've tasted in the past.  It has a bittersweet, earthy flavor, but I get nothing in the way of decay from it as had been mentioned upthread.  It doesn't have the band-aid phenolics to qualify as medicinal to my taste buds either.

The white negroni idea seems like a lovely drink.

http://www.vintagewi...FTOKEN=65243175

vintage wines and spirits web site says they have four bottles in stock... good luck to anyone not stuck in massachuseets...

[jmfangio]

vintage wines and spirits web site says they have four bottles in stock... good luck to anyone not stuck in massachuseets...

Those may be some of the last bottles left in the country - I stopped by Du Vin today to pick up some Ramazzotti Amaro (there's an Amer Picon replica in my future), and they mentioned that they sold their last bottle yesterday.

[David Santucci]

Okay, so I got my bottle of Suze. Haven't tried the White Negroni yet, but it's next on my list.

As I mentioned upthread, I was really impressed by a cocktail at Pegu Club called the Petit Mort. Thing is, I can't remember what was in it, apart from Suze and Champagne. If one of you NYC eGulleters goes by Pegu Club, could you post the ingredients list?

Okay, time to try the White Negroni...

[foodhunter]

Was recently in Europe and brought back two bottles of Suze. Just picked up a fresh bottle of Lillet today, and will try my hand at making a White Negroni tonight. Pegu's version had no garnish, but I think a lemon peel might do nicely.

[Morgan_Weber]

To bump an old thread:

While in New Orleans this last weekend at Tales of the Cocktail, we stopped by Dorignac's Grocery and to our surprise, several bottles of Suze sat on the top shelf. We bought three, but there were definitely more there.

Just FYI, if anyone is interested.

-Morgan

[mkayahara]

I picked up a bottle of Suze the other day, and mixed up a White Negroni tonight. Fabulous drink. I thought the proportions sounded kind of odd on paper, but the balance in the glass is spot-on.

That said, I'm going to run out of Lillet before I run out of Suze. Any other drinks people know of that use this bitter? For that matter, is there anything I need to know about storing it, or can it just sit in the liquor cabinet alongside everything else?

[Chris Amirault]

Just found a bottle of Suze in Tokyo; it'll be heading back with me to the states next week. Any more cocktail ideas? Specifically, does anyone have that Petit Mort recipe? Tx in advance.

[KD1191]

Suze sounds remarkably similar to the Gentiane des Pères Chartreux that I picked up at the Chartreuse distillery in Voiron last month. And, here I thought that White Negroni I'd made with it was somewhat original...

So far, my favorite way to enjoy it is on the rocks. Unfortunately in the wealth of new products I've had to play with lately, this one has been neglected. I'll have to experiment more soon and post the results here.

[David Santucci]

Chris, I was just at the Pegu club last month and asked for the Petit Mort recipe. The bartender wouldn't give me the proportions, but he did give me the ingredients. The big secret is this: Cointreau is the base spirit. I had tried all kinds of combinations, but had never hit upon that. Outside of Cointreau, it's just Suze, lemon juice, simple syrup and Champagne.

When we got home I made up some like this

1 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Suze
1/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
3 oz Champagne

and they were mighty tasty.

Edit: To be honest, I didn't really measure the Champagne. Could have been more like 2 oz.

Edited by David Santucci, 01 July 2010 - 05:25 PM.