Liqueurs

[pariah_kerry]

Nice bottle Fat Guy...now keep it next to Mrs. Butterworth (or Ms. Butterworth if you watch The Simpsons).

In Bonaire, they had a green herbal liqueur called Pisang in a lot of the cocktails.

As I recall, it is best when blended into foo-foo drinks.

[mags]

Jumping in, a year after this thread faded away like an old soldier.

On my last trip to HK, I went to the food department of some gigantic Japanese department store, and looked for the weirdest-looking liqueur I could find, for a friend. It came in a bottle shaped like a sort of elongated fried egg, and the top was shaped like a whole egg in the shell, which obligingly cracked (to reveal a white plastic center with a bright yellow "yolk") when you opened it up. It was just spectacularly kitschy.

Unfortunately, when we did open it up, the stuff inside tasted exactly like shampoo. Which beats real poo, I guess, but not by a lot.

[ned]

tsquare, lucky you tasting the Ginja. Had it myself in Lisbon a couple of years ago and fell in love with it. I also brought a bottle home but alas it is long gone now. I even learned to do the special pour using the cork to letout a few cherries. Does anyone know if Ginja is available in the states?

Edited May 21, 2004 by ned (log)

[Amuse Bouche]

I recently bought a bottle of Douce de Provence, which is like a pear version of Grand Marnier. It has the similar cognac notes as Grand Marnier, but is richer and sweeter than Poire William. I personally prefer Grand Marnier (maybe I was spoiled by the bottle of 150 Anniversary I bought in Italy for a song) but I've had lots of people I've given it to say they like the pear stuff better.

I've made my own quince brandy, which is ridiculously easy -- cut up some quinces and put them in a jar with brandy and some spices -- a very small amount of star anise and a cinnamon stick. The flavor is quite unusual, and it looks beautiful in the jar.

[johnnyd]

On my way back from Europe I picked up a bottle of Caraway Vodka, or Eau de Vie in Iceland. It was a green bottle with a black label that used characters I'd never seen before, so I don't really know what it's called. It is very interesting. I fill a small flask with it when we go X-skiing.

[ned]

tsquare, lucky you tasting the Ginja.  Had it myself in Lisbon a couple of years ago and fell in love with it.  I also brought a bottle home but alas it is long gone now.  I even learned to do the special pour using the cork to letout a few cherries.  Does anyone know if Ginja is available in the states?

←

I was in Newark's Ironbound district yesterday and was afforded the opportunity of answering the question I've posed above. You can get Ginja in the US at a liquor store on Ferry Street. Lisbon Liquors or something. They stock two different kinds of Ginja and both are $14 a bottle. They also have a sizable selection of Portuguese wines and loads of vintage ports.

[Tess]

Speaking of interesting bottles:

Damiana

Damiana is a fairly sweet herbal liqueur, kind of like Galliano. I bought it because of the bottle, but it's not bad.

There is also a liqueur called Agavero, based on tequila and with damiana-- the herb, not the liqueur brand. We bought some and it's just OK, in my opinion; it sort of tastes like a very concentrated margarita. If we actually drink it up, it will probably be over ice with lime juice.

Damiana (the herb again) is supposed to be an aphrodisiac but I don't notice any effect.

I really like Cynar, but as a before-dinner drink.

[Mrs. P]

I just returned from Chile where I tried a couple of new liquors. The one I loved the most was "Cola de Mono", literally translated as Monkey's Tail. It is served at Christmas-time, and is an egg and milk/cream based liquor made with coffee, spices, and pisco or aguardiente. It could be described as a cross between Bailey's and Egg Nog, served chilled. I made some at home too and it came out really well. It probably doesn't keep for too long since it has the egg yolk in it.

After-dinner liquors were popular this trip, and I tried Manzanilla (Chamomile), Mint, and Cherry. On a past trip I brought back the chamomile, and love to have a sip on a cold night. It is a syrupy liquor, best serverd cold but warms you up in a snap. This time around, I brought back a bottle of Almond Mistela, which I suppose is like Nocino (which I have not had). It has a few almonds floating in it and has a gorgeous golden brown color, and is made with almonds, aguardiente, and sugar. Can't wait to try it.

Recently I've started making a few infusions, so I brought back Aguardiente (in Chile this is made like an eau-de-vie) and am steeping some sour cherries to make "Guindado".

There are some really good piscos available in Chile . The brand most commonly available in the States, Capel, is kinda like the "Bud" of piscos, so it is a treat to bring back some of the 3, 5, and 15-year aged piscos that you can't find here. If you are looking for pisco here in the states, look for "Alto del Carmen" 40%.

[Jaymes]

Posted about Xanath, a Mexican vanilla liqueur, sometime last year, but didn't have a link. Now I do. Xanath....Mexican liqueur

[birder53]

This is unusual to me - Ramazzotti. It was listed as an ingredient in the Chaplin. I haven't made the drink yet but I tried a taste of it straight up and on the rocks with a lemon twist. It reminds me of Cynar. It's bit bitter and I found it refreshing. But I also like Cynar, which doesn't seem to be overly popular.

[ludja]

Has anyone ever tasted a gentian-flavored schapps or eau de vie?

This would be from Austria, Switzerland, N. Italy, Germany or France...

I've only heard of it but wonder what it tastes like?

(I believe it's made from the root of the gentian flower...)

[The Hersch]

Has anyone ever tasted a gentian-flavored schapps or eau de vie?

←

In Bavaria, this would be a schnapps called Enzian (which means gentian). But it's not reallly gentian flavored so much as merely made from gentians. It mostly tastes like a jolt of pure alcohol, although it's typically only 40%. It's usually pretty rough stuff, though. Okay, very rough stuff.

[LindyCat]

Has anyone ever tasted a gentian-flavored schapps or eau de vie?

←

Yes, while I was in France a gentian cordial was the local specialty liquor in the rural, mountainous area I was in. Most houses make some of their own, and every shop in the region sold it’s own variety. I am not a fan, but I don't generally like herb-flavored liqueurs. It was a very bitter, medicinal flavor in a lurid greenish-yellow sweetened liquid.

[ludja]

Has anyone ever tasted a gentian-flavored schapps or eau de vie?

←

Yes, while I was in France a gentian cordial was the local specialty liquor in the rural, mountainous area I was in. Most houses make some of their own, and every shop in the region sold it’s own variety. I am not a fan, but I don't generally like herb-flavored liqueurs. It was a very bitter, medicinal flavor in a lurid greenish-yellow sweetened liquid.

←

Thanks lindycat and hersch, it does sound potentially 'challenging' but I guess it will just be something I try out least once sometime!

[therese]

Some that we drink that I don't see too often:

Vov, an Italian egg liqueur.

Bailoni, an Austrian apricot liqueur.

Cynar, an Italian artichoke liqueur. Discussed upthread, and indeed bitter alone, but nice over ice with sparkling water, an orange slice, and an olive or two (sounds very odd, but nice).

[SuzySushi]

Some of the unusual liqueurs I've tried are Chouchen, the Breton version of mead (best I had was made by someone's cousin, and smooth as silk) and Sapin, a green liqueur flavored with pine buds and made in the same manner as absinthe; it's a specialty of Pontarlier in France's Jura mountains.

[cinghiale]

Just returned from the Salzbar here in Kassel/DE, where I jumped for joy at finding Enzian Schnapps and remembering this thread. First, an ode to Heino:

Ja, ja, so blau, blau, blau blüht der Enzian,

wenn beim Alpenglühn wir uns wiedersehn.

Mit ihren ro-ro-ro-roten Lippen fing es an,

die ich nie vergessen kann.

Has anyone ever tasted a gentian-flavored schapps or eau de vie?

←

In Bavaria, this would be a schnapps called Enzian (which means gentian). But it's not reallly gentian flavored so much as merely made from gentians. It mostly tastes like a jolt of pure alcohol, although it's typically only 40%. It's usually pretty rough stuff, though. Okay, very rough stuff.

←

Um, "jolt"? "Rough"? I´ve had grappas that would fit that bill. The version I was served (know store, don´t know brand at this point), however, was very pleasant on the palette. A delightfully floral aroma, enzian eben, nice on the nose. Smooth. This will mosdef be my new fav degustivo.

Has anyone ever tasted a gentian-flavored schapps or eau de vie?

←

Yes, while I was in France a gentian cordial was the local specialty liquor in the rural, mountainous area I was in. Most houses make some of their own, and every shop in the region sold it’s own variety. I am not a fan, but I don't generally like herb-flavored liqueurs. It was a very bitter, medicinal flavor in a lurid greenish-yellow sweetened liquid.

←

This was a clear schnapps. Not bitter, not medicinal. Again, unless you classify all eau de vies this way.

[Jmahl]

How can one say they don't like Cynar and claim to have taste? Compared to Campari it has more depth, bite, interest. Use it in place of Campari and you will be converted. Sinners repent. Don't get religion, get taste.

Shifting gears, recently in Boston I picked up a bottle of Jubilaeums Akvaivit make in Denmark by Aalborg. It is a golden akvavit flavored with dill and coriender. Very smooth - nice, different. Keep it in the freezer and serve it in frozen vodka shooters.

If you haven't tried frozen akvaviat with caviar smoked salmon or other smoked fish you have not lived. (of course, coming from the freezer it just gets a little thick, it can't freeze, it's like drinking an icicle.) It beats bubbly ten different ways. Save the Klug for another day.

Jaded, opinionated and unrepentant, as usual -- enjoying the reparte.

[M.X.Hassett]

Bols, Bols, Bols

and Logen Fils(spl)

[Adam Balic]

Has anyone ever tasted a gentian-flavored schapps or eau de vie?

This would be from Austria, Switzerland, N. Italy, Germany or France...

I've only heard of it but wonder what it tastes like?

(I believe it's made from the root of the gentian flower...)

←

Yes it is made from the root of the Yellow gentian, which is a true gentian, but looks nothing like the blue ones as it is typically over a metre tall. Tastes mildly herby, but more alcoholic then anything.

The flower, from the French Alps.

Not to be confused with "Genepi" whixh is yellow/green and very herby, but is made from a variety of high altitude wormwood (Artemisia genipi). I like it a lot.

Edited October 19, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[mrbigjas]

i've got a gentian-flavored liqueur (called genziana, mysteriously enough) that a friend brought from abruzzo, on the left in this pic:

good stuff. but the centerba over there on the right is better.

[trillium]

For people who are interested, you can find a bitter almond substitute in Chinese grocery stores, in English they are usually labelled apricot or olive kernels. They look like squat little peeled almonds.

If you would like the taste of your stone fruit pits without worries, you can always roast them to convert the toxin to something very harmless.

I wonder how astringent the quince liqueur is? If it was astringent or tartish, I can see really liking it in the summer. If it ends up on the sweet side like my nocino did, it will just sit around forever, unappreciated.

regards,

trillium

[Snowy is dead]

I had some ginja d'obidos. I know this was mentioned way back in 'o3, but you can get it in massachusetts, although, sadly, not the same brands.

Here is a link of the one I brought back. absolutely loved it. nice full cherry flavor, sweet, but in a cointreau sweet way, not cough syrupy. The ones I've found here (and we have a sizeable Portuguese population) are nasty. Taste live formula 44.

http://www.napoleao.co.pt/

do a search for ginja d' obidos. quite good.

Also, for sheer freakiness, a chef I work with brought back this crazy liquor/booze from china. I don't really know what it is, except that it is alchoholic, because everything is in chinese. But the bottle contains two gutted lizards, that look like geckos. My girfriend freaked out, because apparently they sell the same lizards here in the US as pets. Scary looking stuff.

[Friend of the Farmer]

Snowy - are you sure the chinese liqueur with gecko didn't contain formalin?

[Friend of the Farmer]

Is anyone familiar with the jaggery-based liqueurs of Burma and India? I'd be shocked if available stateside, so will otherwise try by infusion.

We're working on a Burmese-themed meal as part of a departures series, so were working on drink complements to the Burmese tea salad.