Lauria Alpine Cream Liqueur / dessert drinks

[Friend of the Farmer]

I'm curious how others are using this alpine specialty in traditional and/or new bar creations. The upsell opportunity to a Baileys/Amarula customer is obvious, but I wonder if comparisons to and fitting with traditional 'cream' liqueur recipes is appropriate. From a richness and texture perspective, its as if we've always worked with soft-serve ice-cream and now can sell/use the Haagen-Dazs or gelato. People pay for richness everywhere else on fine dining menus, so I'm loath to water this down to fit to Baileys recipes. If it veers closer to a dessert item, is this an opportunity to drive more $$ through the bar? What new tastes can be achieved here, and can we expand the customer base at the premium end of the bar?

For ease of preparation, my current favorite is to serve the Lauria chilled (always chilled) on a small circle of heavy pound cake lightly soaked in a smokey malt whiskey, separated by a layer of heavy cream; also works very well in a soak of cherry brandy. I've no name for it yet, can assembled each in ~20 seconds, and guests thought it could sell well priced at $12 - $16.

Also easy is the Bergamo cited on the importer's website (Lauria and espresso), though the guy should note for the American audience that it works best with a very short, strong espresso, as is actually served in Italy. Better, serve in layers like those coffees you get in the Greek isles.

[ludja]

There was an article in this weekend's Wall Street Journal by Eric Felton about Austrian alpine liqueurs in which he discusses the Cream Pear Liqueur from Austria called "Lauria" as well as the Austrian Zirbenze Stone Pine Liqueur discussed in this thread.

I was mailed the link by a subscriber so I'm not sure if it will work for others or for how long: click

It is an interesting article worth seeking out if you have some means to read it.

A year and a half ago, Mr. Seed visited Aspen, Colo. There he found a booming scene devoted to "alpine luxury." The only thing missing were the local spirits Mr. Seed knew from Austria. So he headed Alpsward to look for a distiller whose kletzenlikör he could bring back to the States. He found Josef Hofer, a 200-year-old family-owned distillery in the town of Irdning.

...

He chose instead to drink a less bracing local specialty, a rustic cream liqueur called kletzenlikör. Made from pear brandy, fresh local cream and crushed pear purée, kletzenlikör is very much a local delicacy. Mr. Seed developed a taste for it, and in the years since, whenever he would visit Austria he would come home schlepping bottles.

The cited article gives a cocktail recipe for using Lauria as well:

K-2

3 oz Lauria kletzenlikör

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz coffee liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

(You won't find the word "Kletzen" in a typical English-German dictionaly, but "Kletzenbrot" is an Austrian fruitcake/bread made from dried pears.)

Edited April 11, 2006 by ludja (log)