Liqueur Archives - First Pour Cocktails

DeKuyper Triple Sec

Posted on September 29, 2023September 27, 2023 by Nick

Cointreau is expensive, but do you have to use it? Alternatives abound for orange flavored liquor, many of which are considerable cheaper. Among them is DeKuyper Triple Sec, which comes in at $10 a liter. So is it good enough to use in your drinks?

DeKuyper Triple Sec

Proof: 48 (24% A.B.V.)

Sight: Clear

Smell: The notes of orange peels float up with a little bit of fresh orange juice. Hint of sweetness, generally just orange.

Sip: Sweet, rich, lightly orange flavored. Again, more zest than fruit. It’s sweet, but with a hint of bitterness. It’s almost a little bit like pith.

Savor: The ending is sweet with just a bit of orange.

DeKuyper Triple Sec is what you’d hope for in a generic orange flavor. It delivers with a nice orange taste and plenty of sweetness. While it isn’t so sweet that its it’s undoing, it is a lot to just sip. Thankfully, we’re putting this in cocktails.

In Cocktails

In a Margarita DeKuyper is fine as the orange flavor tends to meld with the lime. That said, it is slightly sweeter, but it’s not off putting. It also doesn’t add a lot of layers. It demonstrates this more in a Sidecar, where the singular note leaves the cognac and lemon doing more of the lifting. The sweetness being higher also is noticeable, but may be more of personal preference. Overall, it isn’t a terrible foil in cocktails.

DeKuyper Triple Sec vs. Cointreau

Compared with Cointreau it DeKuyper is significantly sweeter. The flavors of orange in Cointreau are more nuanced and layered. Where as DeKuyper feels like a normal Cara Cara orange, Cointreau is layering in elements of tangerines and different varieties of orange. The higher proof makes the sugar content feel more balanced. In cocktails, this helps to keep ratios more in line with recipes that specifically call for Cointreau, allowing you to add more orange without adding as much sugar.

In Review – DeKuyper Triple Sec

DeKuyper Triple Sec isn’t bad for the price (around $10 a liter). It deliver what it needs to, orange flavor. What it doesn’t offer is complexity, and instead delivers additional sweetness. All of this taken together with the price suggests you could add this to your bar, and be relatively happy. So why don’t we? Well we suggest adding premium liquors and try to balance the sweetness in the cocktail. This doesn’t give a premium addition and requires extra effort to account for the sweetness in drinks that call for higher proportions.

Giffard Creme de Cacao Blanc

Posted on September 15, 2023September 11, 2023 by Nick

Chocolate Liqueurs run the gamut from clear and boozy to creamy and mild. The result makes planning your cocktails a bit of a trick. Add the wrong chocolate liqueur to a drink, and that clear white chocolate martini can end up cloudy or brown. Add cream to the wrong drink, and things can curdle. Once you get past just figuring out what liqueur you need, then you have to figure out which one doesn’t suck. In the long line of their liqueurs, we have never had issues with Giffard, so does their Giffard Creme de Cacao Blanc work for your cocktail needs, or is this a leftover tootsie roll in the liqueur aisle?

Giffard Creme de Cacao Blanc

Proof: 50 (25% A.B.V.)
Notes: Lactose free, Gluten free, Vegan, No preservative

Sight: Essentially clear, but highly viscous.

Smell: The nose has a mild to moderate burn, but is layered with milk chocolate bars, vanilla, and hints of tootsie roll. The chocolate notes seem layered and more than just one milk chocolate element. It has a mild earthy note.

Sip: Unsurprisingly it’s sweet, thick, and very smooth. The flavor milk chocolate bars mixes with vanilla, and has a creamy chocolate milk like texture. The touches of vanilla and white chocolate keep that tootsie roll note going a bit. Subtle dark chocolate notes are in the background.

Savor: The finish is smooth and sweet with plenty of chocolate hanging around.

Giffard Creme de Cacao Blanc is wonderfully chocolate laden, and delivers it with the required amount of sweetness. Although you wouldn’t want to sip on this straight (due to all the sugar), it’s clearly setup well for making drinks with. The flavors are thankfully very real, and avoid some of the artificialness you see in cheaper products.

In Cocktails

In a Grasshopper it adds a wonderfully chocolate background, and gives the mint a clever foil. It ends up rich and chocolaty without being overwhelming sweet. Similarly, Giffard plays particularly well in more complex applications, like the the 20th Century. The cacao element gives an earthiness without making the gin fight with the chocolate. This balance with the citrus shows how well it plays with other ingredients. It even works well in my mother’s chocolate martinis.

In Review – Giffard Creme de Cacao Blanc

Giffard Creme de Cacao Blanc is a wonderful choice for a creme de cacao, especially a white one, for your bar. The price point in the mid-to-high $20 range provides good value with lots of solid flavor. While you could go cheaper, you should prepare to taste more sugar and more alcohol. For these reasons, this is our current go to creme de cacao blanc.

Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur

Posted on August 25, 2023August 24, 2023 by Nick

I didn’t believe the buzz around Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur when I first read about it a few years back. Coffee liqueurs tended to be syrupy, sweet, vaguely coffee, and sometimes other flavored malarkey that ended up in peoples coffee mugs for black Friday in my mind. Still, Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur seemed different. Made by some enterprising fellas down under, this coffee liqueur starts with 100% arabica coffee beans and is made by people that actually like coffee. The color is indeed that of rich, brewed coffee. So is it worth the hype and worth keeping on your shelf?

Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur

Sight: Deep brown, slight opacity once coffee oils begin to settle or when shaken.

Smell: Deep, rich, black coffee. A creamy and sweet element comes out the nose with a delightful hint of fruit and nuttiness.

Sip: Sweet with a rich texture and plenty of rich coffee notes. The flavors are layered with creamy elements, hints of raw sugar, mild fruity notes, and a bit of nuttiness. The coffee is layered and continues to evolve on sipping.

Savor: The finish leaves a lingering sweetness and plenty of that dark black coffee laced with brown sugar.

Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur is delightful, rich, and complex. The flavor profile is essentially what you would expect of really solid coffee. The liqueur element mingles well with the browned / raw sugar notes of the sweetness. The quality of coffee also shines through, giving a bit of fruitiness and roasted coffee nuttiness. All in all, this is a stellar liqueur.

In Cocktails

In a Revolver Mr. Black adds a beautifully rich coffee flavor with a slight nuttiness. Thanks to it’s controlled sweetness, it doesn’t overwhelm the drink, but rather lets the bourbon shine, providing a great foil. It also works especially well in an espresso martini, where the richness and clean flavors of the coffee shine through. Finally, I found in making old fashioned style drinks that it works particularly well with orange bitters (like Regan’s*) or banana liqueur (like Giffard’s Banane du Bresil). Overall, this works especially well at adding robust, clean, delicious coffee notes to cocktails.

Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur – In Review

Overall Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur represents our favorite expression of coffee liqueur that we’ve encountered. The quality of the product is high, and delivers the flavor of coffee with a mild sweetness and great viscosity. Thanks to all these factors, it plays particularly well in cocktails and add the coffee flavor without being overwhelming in small amounts. With the price being around $30, it’s an absolute steal, and a bottle we recommend if you like to enjoy coffee flavors in your cocktails.

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Giffard Banane du Bresil

Posted on March 24, 2023February 14, 2023 by Nick

Most people don’t look to add a banana liqueur to their bar unless they either love bananas, or are planning on using it for something really specific. If you happen to be looking for a high quality banana liqueur, Giffard Banane du Bresil might be just the ticket. Made from slow macerated bananas mostly from Brazil, this banana liqueur is heavy on the banana notes and finished with just a touch of cognac. So does this hold up to the high standards of Giffard’s other products?

Giffard Banane du Bresil

Sight: A moderate gold with hints of copper.

Smell: The smell is sweet and initially stands out as a banana candy note. The smell is more dynamic though, giving way to overly ripe, mashed banana notes and a slight caramelization.

Sip: The sip starts sweet and has a correspondingly thick texture. The flavors of overripened mashed bananas bump up against candied banana notes. A subtle caramelized sugar flavor leans toward bananas foster. A range of other banana flavors flit in and out.

Savor: The candied banana carries over to the finish and has a subtle dried banana chip flavor.

Giffard Banane du Bresil is banana forward and does a good job of balancing real banana flavors and candied notes. The flavors here are obviously sweet, which is to be expected, but there’s complexity that underlies the liqueur. The different sugar notes bring depth and dimensions. The net effect is rather sweet to sip on its own, but it has enough character if you were to try to drink it straight that you wouldn’t feel overwhelmed with one note.

In Cocktails

There aren’t really standard classic cocktails that call for a banana flavor, but the Educated Barfly’s reader Chase Hoffman from Denver, was nice enough to contribute the Banana Farmer to the world. This riff on Planter’s Punch and Zombie ends up using almost an ounce of Giffard Banane du Bresil to make an amazing rum forward drink that does a slam dunk of caramelized banana flavor with underlying bruleed sugar. The falernum adds a beautiful spicing, and the lime comes to brighten the whole thing up. While not listed in the written recipe, you’ll find two dashes of angostura bitters in the video presentation of it. I recommend that you try it both ways to find your preference for spice level.

Banana Farmer

1 oz

Smith & Cross Rum

1 oz

Plantation 3 Star Rum

1 oz

Giffard Banane du Bresil

½ oz

Velvet Falernum

1 oz

Lime Juice

¾ oz

Pineapple Juice

2 Dashes

Angostura Bitters (Optional)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin. Add ice and shake. Strain into a Collins glass and fill with fresh pellet or crushed ice. Garnish with caramelized banana and 2 pineapple fronds.

If perhaps a Banana forward Zombie cousin isn’t your jam, we’ll talk about how this works in cocktails in general. To start with, we’ve found that the sweetness is strong enough to replace most one to one simple syrups, but with a strong caramelized banana flavor. This means you can use it in relatively small proportions to add a good amount of banana flavor, like by substituting it in an old fashioned. Doing so gives a subtle caramelized banana note that compliments Jim Beam’s peanut note.

In Review – Giffard Banane du Bresil

Giffard Banane du Bresil is a deliciously flavored with lots of different banana flavors and a good mix of sugars. It has depth, sweetness, and complexity that align well with it’s mid $20 price tag. Despite this, it’s definitely an expansion bottle or one that you target specific drinks you want to make with it. True banana fans should also consider trying a bottle, and spicing up their favorite cocktail with hint of banana.

Knob Creek Smoked Maple

Posted on October 14, 2022October 13, 2022 by Nick

When I originally purchased this bottle (back before the packaging changes), I thought this was Knob Creek’s regular bourbon offering. After taking a picture of it, I realized that I had purchased Knob Creek Smoked Maple. Unable to return liquor in the state of Ohio, I did what anyone would do. I opened it. So how is it?

Knob Creek Smoked Maple

If you read the reviews on Knob Creek’s sight, you’ll find that people are quite polarized over Knob Creek Smoked Maple. This isn’t surprising when you consider that many “maple” bourbons are aged in ex-maple barrels. The result is usually something that it’s particularly sweet, but has a maple note. This isn’t that, this is more akin to a bourbon with maple (flavors) added to it. With that out of the way, here’s what it’s like.

Sight: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry (no mention of color add –)

Smell: Unsurprisingly a roasted, slightly caramelized maple syrup note comes thought. It is slightly short of what I’d consider smokey. Touches of baking spices, vanilla, and oak notes comes though in the underpinnings. A slight touch of orange zest might be linger as well.

Sip: Sweetness starts with a richness from the sugar. The palate is loaded with maple drenched pecans and peanuts. The nuts are almost pan roasted with maple, and sprinkled with cinnamon and baking spices. Touches of oak and a little cigar box come in too.

Savor: The finish has a bit of warmth, giving some heat all the way down. Despite that, the sugar keeps it easygoing, and the flavors of maple, spice, and nuttiness linger.

Knob Creek Smoked Maple is sweet, maple laden, and underpinned by solid Knob Creek flavors. Like the Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year, there’s a lot to like about the interaction of the nuttiness and oak touches that under pin the maple flavors here. While the flavors are nice, purists will find the maple flavors overpower what they like to pick out of the whiskey, while those who like a little sweetness may find something to soothe the experience with. Either way, it isn’t a bad product, but it certainly isn’t meant as a neat drinker for everyone.

In Cocktails

Knob Creek Smoked Maple is more liqueur than liquor. As such, using it as a base in a Manhattan would be quite strange on it’s own, but you could use it as a modifier or split base. In an Old Fashioned, it produces the same nuttiness and maple notes as on it’s own, with a lot of complexity to the nuts. The spices here are accentuated by the bitters. Unsurprisingly, it’s an easy sipper and feels a bit like a shortcut / poor mans version of our Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned. Due to the sweetness, I excluded an additional sugar component.

This might be the best usage as well, as this is a tricky bottle to find a great use for. Most recipes that specify maple syrup are using it as a sweetening element, while most recipes that are calling for bourbon don’t look for sweetness. The result is something that fits in neither category, and seems best for enjoying on it’s own, using as a small amount of modify in place of bourbon base, or in fast Old Fashioneds. You might also consider it in a Stone Fence, where the maple and apple could work well together.

In Review – Knob Creek Smoked Maple

Knob Creek Smoked Maple is an unsurprisingly sweet and more refined maple liqueur. The underpinning of Knob Creek bourbon really gives it some character, but it is unmistakably sweet. Combined with the limited cocktail potential, this is a hard bottle to recommend to all but those who truly love maple syrup. Still, the liqueur inside isn’t bad, just not for everyone.

Original Krupnik Honey Liqueur

Posted on April 1, 2022March 29, 2022 by Nick

It’s almost Dyngus Day again, and rather than make our own Krupnik again, we opted to try Original Krupnik Honey Liqueur. Produced by Marie Brizard in Poland, there’s reason to suspect that this should be good quality liqueur for a reasonable price. A honey and herb liqueur infusion, this polish liqueur will give you one more option to celebrate the day. You can also use it in our original Krupnik Fizz and The Pussy Willow.

Original Krupnik Honey Liqueur

Sight: Caramel / Straw. Caramel coloring is added for consistency.

Smell: The smell of honey is dominant and there are touches of herbs and a little baking spice. There’s a touch of fermented honey funk to it.

Sip: The start is sweet, and immediately veers into mead and honey notes. A hint of herbal and spice notes come out as well. There is a bit of raw alcohol flavor as well – although the exact grain is hard to pinpoint (possibly rye?)

Savor: The ending is more honey with a little spice.

Original Krupnik Honey Liqueur is sweet and predominately honey flavored. There’s a balance of sweetness here so it’s not quite cloying, but it is very sweet. As a sipper, it’s easy going if simple. There’s not a lot to dislike, unless you’re not a fan of honey.

In Cocktails

In a Krupnik Fizz, the sweetness tones down dramatically, and the wine notes are given reign. The herbal notes and spices slide into the background, and are touch to pick out. While it works well as a sweetener, it provides mostly a honeyed note. The net results is a nice drink, but we recommend making your own Krupnik if you want something spectacular.

In Review – Original Krupnik Honey Liqueur

At only $14, Original Krupnik Honey Liqueuer is an affordable shortcut to making your own. While it isn’t the most amazing liqueur in the world, it’s well made and affordable. Availability can be hit and miss, and it isn’t particularly called for in most cocktails. That said, if you want to add one more Polish item to your Dyngus Day, then grab a bottle of Original Krupnik Honey Liqueur for the novelty of it.

Stirrings Ginger Liqueur

Posted on August 27, 2021July 29, 2021 by Nick

Ginger liqueur is unlikely to be the sort of thing you need when starting your bar. In fact, when it comes to ginger beer, only the Moscow Mule and Dark and Stormy are obvious. We previously discussed that in some books, they recommend you actual make your own ginger syrup instead of using ginger beer. While ginger syrup can be delicious and fun to play with in make new drinks, it isn’t always practical to run out and juice fresh ginger. So how does something off the shelf, like Stirrings Ginger Liqueur, do in its place.

Stirrings Ginger Liqueur

Sight: A pale hay like color, just fringing on yellow [Caramel Color Added].

Smell: The nose has the essence of freshly cut ginger, mixed with a touch of caramelized sugar and some floral notes. With the predominance of sweet smelling ginger, it’s not far off the nose of ginger beer.

Sip: The sip starts out sweet but immediately gets somewhat spicy. Rather than getting hot from the alcohol (which is only 25% A.B.V.), the spice is driven from the ginger. In a way, it’s oddly reminiscent of fresh ginger in this regard. Other touches of woody notes and sugar compliment the ginger.

Savor: The ending is spice, and unsurprisingly, more ginger. A small amount of sugar is left cloyingly behind.

Stirrings Ginger Liqueur is spicy and cloying, but undeniably ginger forward. As it goes, it conveys the flavor of ginger well without adding in a lot of distracting elements. If there’s a flaw, it’s the amount of sugar needed to subdue the ginger spice. Still, this isn’t a deal breaker for this liqueur, where it can take the place of reduce the amount of simple syrup required.

In Cocktails

In a cocktail Stirrings Ginger Liqueur unmistakably adds the flavor of ginger. This is particularly useful in a pinch if you haven’t had time to make your own ginger syrup.

The problem is there aren’t a broad group of classic cocktails that call for ginger liqueur. While we like to keep it around for crafting reasons (it goes particularly well with strawberries and fall spiced apple cocktails), it isn’t an everyday thing and very few of our original recipes rely on it.

In Review – Stirrings Ginger Liqueur

This isn’t a long review, primarily because there isn’t much to say about adding the flavor of ginger to things with Stirrings Ginger Liqueur. At the $16 price point, this bottle should last you a reasonable amount of time, and won’t break the bank. Be aware it isn’t the most complex ginger flavor in the world, and isn’t as good as making your own. That said, it is a value level brand that performs like a workhorse – should you find the need for ginger liqueur in your bar.

Pernod

Posted on August 20, 2021July 29, 2021 by Nick

To understand Pernod, a Pastis, you must understand what happened to Absinthe.

Absinthe was banned after a spike in interest in France, causing a loss of business for French wine farmers (who has previously had to deal with phylloxera – which had killed off a large number of vines). Combined with the rumored hallucinogenic properties and some murders in France at the time, a decree was passed to outlaw all anise spirits. This lined up with similar movements in other countries. Absinthe wasn’t really bad (or worse than any other liquor), but it was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ended up being a casualty of the temperance movements.

When the ban was loosened in the 1930s, some producers were ready with a wormwood free version. This version, was a pastis, instead of an absinthe. The primary difference is the use of star anise as the principal flavoring, instead of using green anise, wormwood of fennel. The resulting liqueur is different in it’s flavor profile, but similarly enough that it can be used as a substitute to absinthe.

So with all that said, what does Pernod taste like, and is it any good?

Pernod

Sight: A bright translucent green. Turns cloudy with water.

Smell: Strong notes of anise mixed with touches of herbs. It moves toward a fresh fennel note as well.

Sip: The body is thick thanks to the sugar, but feels less so thank to the growing alcohol burn as it sits on the palate. A subtle sweetness holds throughout and build in complexity between anise and fennel. The notes of herbs grow gradually throughout but it never loses the predominately anise note.

Savor: Anise, licorice, and fennel linger predominately and extend for a significant period of time.

When cut, Pernod behaves more like a black jelly bean than a full on anise attack. It gets a lot softer with the addition of water, making it much more pliable. It also opens up some subtle herbal notes that are notice in the full proof version. Correspondingly, the same notes should come forward in cocktails, adding flavor if not complexity.

In Cocktails

There are very few cocktails that rely on absinthe or pastis to serve as the main liquor, so Pernod is most frequently tasked with playing a modifier. Most commonly used as a stand in for absinthe, you can use Pernod in classics such as the Corpse Reviver #2, the Sazerac, and Remember the Maine. One cocktail that prominently features either pastis or absinthe is Death In the Afternoon. Made by combining pastis or absinthe with sparkling wine, Pernod opens up and gives a more herbal, drier rendition of itself. The sweetness is instead replaced by brightness, and the a more licorice and green fennel notes becomes prominent.

In Review – Pernod

Pernod is a widely available and a well rounded pastis that can also substitute for absinthe. This makes it useful for both classic cocktails as well as Tiki drinks. While this isn’t a starter bottle, it’s a great choice once you’ve established your bar. It will also last a long time as most drinks require a rinse to a few drops. For these reasons, we suggest you give Pernod a shot if you can’t find an absinthe.

Benedictine D.O.M.

Posted on August 6, 2021July 29, 2021 by Nick

Developed by Alexandre Le Grand in 1863, Benedictine D.O.M is an herbal liqueur made with 27 herbs, spices, and other secrets. Made in the heart of France at the extravagant palace Le Palais Bénédictine, the liqueur actually starts as four different distillation recipes which are then aged in oak for 8 months. Once aged, these recipes are blended together, and saffron and honey are added. The blend is then heated, before being aged for another 4 months in a large oak tank. The result is a unique liqueur with a special sort of sweetness and flavor.

Benedictine D.O.M.

Sight: A coppery hue with a hint of gold. Plenty of viscous sugar is visible with the cling to the glass. There is a subtle amount of oily notes in the body of the liqueur. [Caramel color is added]

Smell: Beautiful notes of honey and baking spices mix immediately with a hit of mountainous herbs. The unmistakably floral note of saffron lays over the top, adding a complexity while the spices and herbs evolve.

Sip: Rich and thick like syrup, it immediately feels like thinned honey, and has an underlying honey like flavor that runs throughout. Floral notes kick of ranging from saffron to roses. Notes of pine resin, alpine herbs, and garigue join in to give a subtle earthiness. Spicing hints throughout, suggesting warm baking spices in small amounts, similar to the background flavor on mead.

Savor: The ending is a hint of herbs and baking spices with a honey like backbone. It lingers lazily but pleasantly.

Benedictine D.O.M. is a classic herbal liqueur that seamlessly sews together herbs, honey, and floral components. The net result is a silky smooth, if very sweet herbal liqueur. It isn’t exactly the kind of thing most people would want to sit around and crush a glass of, but in cocktails it’s a rockstar.

In Cocktails

Benedictine D.O.M has been around long enough that’s it’s managed to work it’s way into a number of classic cocktails. The most prominent of these is the Vieux Carre, a mix of rye, cognac, sweet vermouth, Angostura and Peychaud’s bitters which you can still find on many prohibition style cocktail bar menus today. Lesser known, but equally great are the Preakness and Bobby Burns, but of which recipes can be found right here on First Pour Cocktails.

Benedictine D.O.M. has even crossed over to the world of Tiki, where you’ll find it in a Singapore Sling

In Review – Benedictine D.O.M.

Benedictine D.O.M is beautiful mix of honeyed flavors and herbal notes with just the right amount of floral touches. This complexity, combined with the refined balance and texture makes it a wonderful addition to your bar. This bottle is a great expansion choice as it can help make a number of classic drinks and will last you a decent amount of time.

Benedictine’s Website

Cointreau

Posted on July 23, 2021July 19, 2021 by Nick

Perhaps few bottles of liqueur are as synonymous with the type of spirit they represent as Cointreau is. The square tawny bottle is found on almost every bar, and is the top shelf orange liqueur mixer for most establishments. With good reason, Cointreau is a key ingredient in drinks including the Cosmopolitan, the Sidecar, and the Margarita. So what makes it so special, and why is it worth the upcharge over Triple Sec?

Cointreau

Sight: Clear.

Smell: There’s a natural and fresh almost clementine-orange smell that leads off. A mix of zest and fruit is in the nose, with a just a hint of pithy bitterness.

Sip: A beautiful, complex orange leads off with notes ranging from candied orange peels to fresh tangerine segments. The orange is well complimented by a subtle, balanced sweetness. There’s a hint of heat, but nothing distracting.

Savor: The ending is a delicate mix of tropical oranges with just a hint of bitter pith.

Cointreau is simple, clean, and straightforward in it’s delivery of orange liqueur flavors. The sweetness is balanced, the alcohol is moderated, and the flavors are direct and enjoyable. It’s nice enough that it even works on its own, and can be served as a cordial. [If you can find dark chocolate shot glasses, we highly recommend trying Cointreau or Gran Marnier in them].

In Cocktails

The beauty of Cointreau is the balance that it achieves in a cocktail. It manages to simultaneously be present and providing orange flavor, while not throwing unnecessary additional flavors. A result that’s easy to see in a margarita. Some citrus beyond lime is clearly present, but not in a distracting way. The sweetness also doesn’t unbalance the drink or obscure the tequila. This is true in both a Cosmo and a Sidecar. Further, unlike some other curacaos and triple secs, there’s no additional chemical or artificial taste present.

In Review – Cointreau

Cointreau is an elegant orange liqueur that does its job admirably. While the price is higher than some competitors, the flavors are cleaner and more direct. For this reason, Cointreau is the orange liqueur we recommend for your bar. Due to the number of drinks it compliments, we recommend it for when you’re starting your bar as well.

Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto

Posted on June 18, 2021June 9, 2021 by Nick

Based on an 1850’s recipe for the ‘apreritivo di corte’ or drink of kings, Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto is a bergamot based apreritivo. Made in the ‘rosolio’ style (think semi-homemade and flavored with herbs), Italicus has been modernized to lean into bitter orange and floral notes. The bottle is appropriately attractive, and enticing with it’s blue glass. Is it worth adding a bottle to your shelf though?

Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto

Sight: A straw gold, similar to a young chardonnay.

Smell: A perfumed nose leads off with a mix of floral tones ranging from lavender to roses. As the nose settles, the citrus notes present prominently giving off touches of lemon and orange. The nose of bergamot tea is prevalent throughout.

Sip: The start is sweet and rich on the palate, giving a tea like complexity off the start. The sweetness continues throughout, but is joined by a gradual citrus bitterness. The citrus exists somewhere between bergamot and lemon. Floral notes hint around the edges with rose and lily and a hint of lychee.

Savor: The finish is slightly bitter, but decidedly bergamot orange with hints of perfumed flowers.

Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto is delightfully smooth, sweet, and perfectly balanced in its hints of bitterness. The flavor of bergamot leads, but corresponding citrus complexity and floral notes add a beautiful element to this liqueur. The perfumed nature and nature balance lends it to an ice cube if you were so inclined, but Italicus works better in cocktails.

In Cocktails

Italicus is in the vein of creme de violette, you don’t need a lot of it to make an impact on a drink. We’ve found that a quarter ounce addition to a gin and tonic or classic drink can add a complexity that leaves you wanting more. Our favorite application of Italicus is with gin, but it also works particularly well with summer fruits like peaches.

Due to the lack of classic cocktails featuring Italicus – we do not have a testing drink.

In Review: Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto

Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto is honestly delicious. If you’re starting your bar, we recommend you skip this one unless you know you love it. It is a great next choice for those looking to expand their liqueur select and who also enjoy creme de violette or St. Germain Elderflower liquor. Unlike creme de violette, you’ll actually find places to slip Italicus into your favorite drinks. While the price is in the mid-$30s to low $40s, a bottle should last you a while.

Italicus’ Website

Giffard Curacao Bleu

Posted on May 7, 2021May 4, 2021 by Nick

Blue curacao is not necessarily a required ingredient in your home bar. At its core, it’s orange liqueur with blue coloring added. That coloring is the core of its charm, giving drinks an electrically colorful charm. Blue Curacao’s troubles stem from low quality producers that make poor quality curacaos, with bitter, chemical flavors. Thankfully, Giffard isn’t a low quality producer. So does Giffard Curacao Bleu do it better?

Giffard Curacao Bleu

Sight: It is undeniably blue. Somewhere between cobalt and azure with a hint of teal.

Smell: A bright smell of freshly zested oranges ranging from clementines to tangerines floats up. There’s a compliment of some vanilla notes and a hint of powder sugar. A slight tang of alcohol exists as well.

Sip: Sweet and thick to start, it brings in a slightly sour, candied orange flavor. The cloying sweetness has a hint of vanilla and other tropical orange zest notes to it.

Savor: The ending is cloyingly sweet, but leaves a light to moderate lingering tropical orange flavor palate.

Why anyone would want to drink Giffard Curacao Bleu straight is not for me to ponder. Suffice it to say that unless you a fan of saccharinely sweet liqueurs that are primarily orange flavored, then you will very little here to enjoy on it’s own.

In Cocktails

Lest we be too hard on Giffard Curacao Bleu, as it works wonderfully in cocktails. The two things you want blue curacao to do well are:

Be Blue
Impart a lightly-tropical but ultimately orangey flavor into a cocktail.

The first two things it passes with flying colors. It is, in fact, blue. It also happens to be orange flavored. More importantly, it passes another unspoken rule, it doesn’t impart any strange cheap flavoring or chemical flavors. This last one is the kiss of death of most of the Windex colored liqueurs you see gracing the bottom shelf.

There is a third, semi-unspoken objective that blue curacao also has (which Giffard passes), which is to add sweetness. The third is obviously optional, but something that always needs to be considered when making drinks with any orange liqueur. Overall, even though Giffard’s blue curacao is sweet, it’s not overwhelmingly sweet, and thanks to that, it replaces well with 1:1 simple. As a result of its good behavior and modifier characteristics, we’ve used it in both our original Frankenstein and Slimer cocktails.

Giffard Curacao Bleu Overall

Giffard Curacao Bleu is somewhat more expensive than it’s competitors, ranging from the low to mid $20s. We feel that based on the smooth characteristics, natural flavors, and balanced sweetness that it’s one of the best blue curacao options out there, and highly recommend it for any bar looking to add a blue curacao to their cocktail kit.