Dissecting typical French apéritifs

Some UK citizens living in France find it difficult to shake off their roots, hankering after Branston Pickle, Marmite, bangers and mash, and so on, and drinking G&Ts and Scotch rather than Pastis. But the whole point of living in France is to enjoy the delightful peculiarities of the country.

Especially those quaint apéritifs, including:

• Byrrh, created in 1866, based on muscat wine and quinine, flavoured with coffee, cocoa and orange.

• Suze, created in 1889, based on gentian root.

• Ambassadeur, based on grape must and kept in oak barrels for a year or so, before it’s flavoured with orange, gentian and vanilla.

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And then there is Queen Elizabeth and her Mum’s favourite, Dubonnet, with its quinine, blackcurrant and cane sugar ingredients. 

It dates from 1846 when the French government ran a competition to devise a drink for French soldiers in Algeria to ward off malaria by making very bitter quinine tastier.

Later it was famed for its play-on-words advertising slogan:

“Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet” (roughly: “It’s nice, it’s good, it’s Dubonnet.”)

And then there’s Lillet. Or more precisely the three Lillet sisters:

• Lillet Blanc, ‘the golden madame’ who is ‘smooth and fruity, full and fleshy, and complex and sophisticated.’

• Lillet Rosé, a ‘vibrant and enticing young lady reminiscent of an afternoon in the French countryside.’

• Lillet Rouge, the ‘Lady in Red’. ‘Fierce and passionate, robust and bold.’

I think I will put that Red Lady to work and see how she mixes with a good old Beefeater Gin and a feisty Campari to make a lively Lillet Negroni: one-part Lillet Rouge, one-part Campari, one-part gin, shaken over ice, with a chunk of orange on top.

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