113 replies to this topic

[phlip]

so marie brizzard apry seems impossible to get these days and i'm irritated because i don't have an ingrediant i'm used to having. anyone have a apricot brandy in mind that is not disgustingly sweet and available in nyc. thanks

[eje]

so marie brizzard apry seems impossible to get these days and i'm irritated because i don't have an ingrediant i'm used to having. anyone have a apricot brandy in mind that is not disgustingly sweet and available in nyc.  thanks

I dunno what the deal is, either. I've asked at nearly every liquor store in San Francisco, and no one seems to know if the product has been discontinued or if they are just not sending it to the US anymore. Of the various Apricot flavored brandies available, the Bols, if you can find it, seems the most likely to have involved actual Apricots at some point in its creation.

Quite a few French companies (Massenez, Mathilde...) make a high quality creme de peche, which actually might be a better choice than crap Apricot Brandy. Also be sure to look for Liqueur d'Abricot from these same companies.

clear something up.

Edited by eje, 14 April 2006 - 09:18 AM.

[trillium]

Sam's Wines & Spirits in Chicago carries another brand of French made apricot brandy that's pretty good. I'll look at my label when I get home.

regards,
trillium

[Friend of the Farmer]

Have you guys tried substituting with Bailoni?

[marty mccabe]

If you're looking for dry apricot brandy, Zwack makes one that is available in Massachusetts. In total, the brandy is labeled, "Pecsetes Barack Palinka Zwack Apricot Brandy." It's imported by International Import Export, LA, CA.

Hope this helps...

[phlip]

what is bailoni?

[Rehovot]

Bailoni: apricot (and other) liqueur from the Wachau Valley...Austria's Napa.
But locals will tell you that local, homemade versions are much better!
They also make cherry and pear liqueur.

[eje]

Bailoni: apricot (and other) liqueur from the Wachau Valley...Austria's Napa. 
But locals will tell you that local, homemade versions are much better! 
They also make cherry and pear liqueur.

Is it available in the US?

PS. Just to be clear, Marie Brizard Apry is an apricot liqueur, not a true apricot brandy/Eau de Vie.

[M.X.Hassett]

I have a bottle of Hiram Walker apricot Brandy, vile stuff IMHO.

[Snowy is dead]

yeah, the marie brizzard apry is very, very tasty. Once I tied it, I dumped out my botltle of bols/hiram/etc. apricot. no contest.
Shame about the difficulty getting it all of a sudden. you would think that one or two distributors would actually read these sites, not just people who want what they can't get because people don't pay attention.

[Friend of the Farmer]

So the fine brandies and schnaps carried by Wallse and Blaue Gans in New York are from Goelles, and they are excellent. To find a local retailer, I'd suggest contacting the US importer, Vin diVino.

The link below is for the apricot (marillen) brandy.

http://www.vindivino...WineId=92156800

[Friend of the Farmer]

In NY last week and saw that Beekman Liquors in midtown had two bottles of Brizard Apry. I was in buying more of the Zirbenz to take back midwest. I also saw at another shop the pricing for the Golles and Reisetbauer - both were around $60!!

[eje]

This might be seen as torturing those who can't find decent apricot liqueur; but, I'm not really all that pleased with the bottle of Vedrenne apricot liqueur I've found. The bottle might just be really old; but, to me, it tastes like mildly apricot flavored grain alcohol. My quest continues.

After some waffling and experimentation with various base alcohols, I decided to use a similar recipe to the Floridita daquiri. No name, as yet, and am still experimenting with citrus variety. Lime might be a zippier change, in place of the grapefruit.

2 oz white rum (used Flor de Cana Extra Dry)
1 oz apricot juice or nectar (used Ceres)
1/4 oz grapefruit juice
1/4 oz apricot liqueur
dash angostura bitters

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into cocktail glass.

[Rob Simmon]

Bassin's/McArthur Liquors in DC has one bottle of Apry left--I just bought the other two.

[Snowy is dead]

Still no word on the Apry from my distributor. They seem a little confused about it as well. I hope this isn't going to affect the entire marie brizzard line. That would be upsetting indeed.

On the hopeful side, I have noticed that some of their newer flavors have a new style of label, so maybe it's just an interruption while they switch to the new label style.

They still have it listed on their website...

http://www.mariebriz...t-liqueurs.html

[mumkin]

I was recently pleased to discover the apricot and peach brandies of Koenig Distillery. They seem to be the only not-Mr. Boston apricot and peach brandies available in Oregon's state liquor stores. Here they're about $18.00 / 350 ml. Unfortunately, being in Idaho it appears they aren't allowed to sell brandy by mail.

[eje]

Found some decent Apricots at last Saturday's Farmers' Market, so I'll be giving my own apricot liqueur a try this week, following Jackal10's procedure for Damson Gin.

Well, not exactly. I'm going to use Pisco, 'cos it's the closest, reasonably priced thing I can find to Eau de Vie, and I won't sweeten until after the initial month's aging.

Woo! Leaving those pits in. Cyanogenic Glycosides, here I come.

[alphaiii]

I just bought a bottle of Marie Brizzard Apry tonight for my dad for Father's Day. The store I got it from has had at least one bottle on the shelf all but maybe 2 times (that I've noticed) that I've been there since I moved to Baltimore last Aug. Since I've been there so many times, and it is almost always on the shelf, I assume they stock it regularly, in which case there must still be a US importer. That, or there is a decent stockpile in MD or at this particular store.

[johnder]

So I found an online retailer in Conneticut that apparently has it in stock, but won't ship it to New York.


Grand Vin Wine and Sprits

Looks like a road trip.

[Snowy is dead]

the distributor that carries it in MA says that Marie Brizzard is not all that easy to work with. They often ship less than was ordered, or don't ship at all, with no explanation or reason. The Apry is now listed as discontinued from their end and no other information is availiable, at least from this company.

[slkinsey]

A friend tells me that, according to the Marie Brizard folks, "there are bottling issues" with Apry and we shouldn't expect resolution any time soon.

[Friend of the Farmer]

For those of you that like the Apry Liqueur, you may be in luck. Heaven Hill in KY appears to now be the importer for the Marie Brizard line, and just last week had new labels approved for Apry.

Looking closer at the labels, you can read that this stuff is colored with caramel - strange for a fruit product.

I'm leaning upon two importer friends to bring in real apricot brandy/eau-de-vie from Austria and/or France. Hopefully I'll have news (or at least a sample) soon.

[johnder]

That's awesome. I have to say I tried Apry last night for the first time (with the bottle Donbert picked up from New Haven, CT) and wasn't super impressed.

It was very sweet and syrupy, like a fruit roll up. It is a shame that a usable apricot liquor isnt available, as there is such a huge swath of cocktails that I can't make that are supposed to contain some form of apricot.

It would be super awesome to have better brands available.

John

[slkinsey]

Well, yea it's sweet and syrupy. It's a liqueur. Straight creme de cacao or curacao or even Cointreau can be a little off-putting as well.

Dave Wondrich recommends a dry style of apricot brandy in at least one of his books. Maybe we can get some brand recommendations out of him.

[johnder]

I expected it to be sweet, but for some reason I didn't really get a lot of apricot flavor from it. It was like sucking on a big yellow jolly rancher.

Of course this could be just my taste buds being killed after I think 4 or 5 drinks.

BTW Sam, after you left I stupidly had another drink with Donbert -- a Sea Fizz.

Holy crap. That was a mistake.

[eje]

Luxardo, many of the French liqueur companies (Massenez, Mathilde, Briottet, Vedrenne...), and a few german liqueur firms, make apricot liqueurs ; but, none of them appear to currently export to the US.

I've seen the Maraska Apricot liqueur in the US. From the labelling, it appears to be artificially flavored.

It's too bad the folks at Clear Creek, or some other US distiller, can't be convinced to make an apricot liqueur.

[donbert]

The two drinks Jim made with the Apry were very good, especially the champagne one which was drier and excentuated the apricot scent. But after that Cup'o'booze and the last 1/3rd of Johnder's Sea Fizz he refused to finish I don't really remember much else.

Much experimenting needs to be done now that we have a bottle. If there are any ripe apricots at the farmers market though I may have to try making my own infusion just for comparison.

Edited by slkinsey, 06 September 2006 - 01:37 PM.

[johnder]

and the last 1/3rd of Johnder's Sea Fizz he refused to finish

Hey, all I know is I went to the restroom after consuming 5 drinks with slkinsey and at least 7/8th's of my sea fizz and when I came back the glass was gone.

I didn't refuse to drink it.

The apry drinks were good, but I think I need to try them when I am a little more uh, sober.

John

[kvltrede]

...Dave Wondrich recommends a dry style of apricot brandy in at least one of his books.  Maybe we can get some brand recommendations out of him....

Here's what Dave wrote on the subject in the Hop Toad recipe at the Esquire Drinks Database:

.... It calls for Hungarian apricot brandy, and nothing else will do. In Hungary, they make the stuff by mashing up a mess of apricots, fermenting it, and running it through the still a couple times—yielding what the French would call an eau de vie. Delicately perfumed, smooth, and yet still a little bit fiery...In any case, what you're looking for is "Kecscemeti barack palinka," made by Zwack.

I can't help with the Kecscemeti Barack Palinka but the Pecsetes Barack Palinka (also by Zwack) can be had at both Sam's and Binny's in Chicago. The info at the US distributor's website leads me to believe the Pecsetes is a reasonable substitute. I have no complaints.

Kurt

[BTR]

...Dave Wondrich recommends a dry style of apricot brandy in at least one of his books.  Maybe we can get some brand recommendations out of him....

Here's what Dave wrote on the subject in the Hop Toad recipe at the Esquire Drinks Database:

.... It calls for Hungarian apricot brandy, and nothing else will do. In Hungary, they make the stuff by mashing up a mess of apricots, fermenting it, and running it through the still a couple times—yielding what the French would call an eau de vie. Delicately perfumed, smooth, and yet still a little bit fiery...In any case, what you're looking for is "Kecscemeti barack palinka," made by Zwack.

I can't help with the Kecscemeti Barack Palinka but the Pecsetes Barack Palinka (also by Zwack) can be had at both Sam's and Binny's in Chicago. The info at the US distributor's website leads me to believe the Pecsetes is a reasonable substitute. I have no complaints.

Kurt

If what he's recommending is, as it sounds, an apricot eau de vie, will nothing else but the Hungarian really do? I know there are some German and Austrian distillers making apricot eau de vies, though they don't seem to be the most popular varieties (in fact I have a bottle 20 feet from me right now). Or is the Hungarian variety really nonpariel?