France Archives - Page 2 of 2 - First Pour Cocktails

Giffard Pêche De Vigne

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Nick

For some liqueurs one is spoilt for choice. Look no further than the plethora of orange liqueurs in the market, and you’ll see a near saturation of similar products. Yet, for some liqueurs, there are relative few ways to go. Among them are most stone fruit liqueurs, like peach. Fortunately, Giffard is once again helping plug gaps in our bar with Giffard Pêche de Vigne

Giffard Pêche de Vigne

Translating to Peach of the Vineyard, Giffard infuses the peaches of France into their liqueur. While it sounds absolutely lovely, it’s always a question of if the liquid inside the bottle measures up to the story told. So does Giffard Pêche de Vigne impress?

Sight: Lightly golden, boarding on a chardonnay. Just plain peachy.

Smell: A beautiful mix of fresh macerated peaches and candied peach rings. There are some tangy notes of fresh, slightly under ripe peaches.

Sip: The start is viscous but bright. The flavor builds into a mix of candied peaches and fresh mashed peaches with their skins.

Savor: The ending sticks for a while and moves toward the candied side with those linger hints of fresh peach skin and a subtle, floral nuttiness.

Pêche de Vigne isn’t the most complicated liqueur, but what it tries to do, it does well. The balance of fresh peach and candied peach is easy going but enjoyable. The brightness also helps it to play well with cocktails, and the sweetness hides any edges. The relatively low alcohol also helps to keep the balance of the cocktail.

In Cocktails

Pêche de Vigne plays well various rums, making it a nice addition to Tiki drinks. It also has a nice a synergy with floral spirits and gins. As a result, we’ve found it to be a solid modifier for crafting with, and have used it in a number of our original cocktails.

Pêche de Vigne Overall

Giffard Pêche de Vigne is a great addition for those looking for a peach flavored liquor. The price is reasonable, and those who enjoy making tiki drinks will find places to slot this to add a twist to their drinks. While it’s by no means a must have, it certainly is one of our favorite bottles to play with, and we encourage others to try it.

Dolin Dry Vermouth

Posted on June 29, 2020June 28, 2020 by Nick

Dolin traces it’s history back to 1821 when vermouth was beginning to boom thanks to Carpano gaining the King of Sardinia’s seal of approval in the late 1700s. Variation began from the original recipe in short order, but stuck to the original formula of aromatic herbs and spice While Noilly Prat was first on the scene in Southern France, Dolin wasn’t far behind with their alpine botanical laced version. The brand is still around today, and Dolin Dry Vermouth is one of the standard bearers for vermouths.

Dolin Dry Vermouth

Sight: A pale greenish yellow with a pale watery edge.

Smell: The nose is clean and lightly spiced with subtle herbal, starfruit or pear, and citrus character. The spice is lightly herbal and with a hint of creamy vanilla and touches of mountain herbs, lemon pith, and air. There’s something mysterious and inviting about the nose.

Sip: The start is bright, rich, and full. It moves gradually thicker, with notes of lemon, herbs, and light spice and vanilla. The brightness carries through the lanolin texture, and gives off various notes ranging from bittering agents to citrus peel. There’s also a subtle wet stone note about it.

Savor: The ending lingers beautifully, giving a wide range of flavor, and a subtle bitterness. The herbal character is persistent.

Years ago I reviewed Dolin Dry Vermouth, and I thought it wasn’t spectacular. The thing is, when objectively looking at this through a wine lens, it’s just ok, but when looking at from a cocktail point of view, it’s dazzling. There are other cheaper vermouth, but they aren’t as clean and not as diverse in their flavor profile. Dolin has a complexity to it that’s interesting and it’s smooth body makes a great pairing for drinks.

In Cocktails

Another thing that Dolin manages to do particularly well is deliver value for the price point. You can buy a bottle of Martini & Rossi for less – but the flavor isn’t there. Vermouth is a critical component in prohibition cocktails and many modern updates, adding complexity and herbal qualities to the cocktails it’s introduced to. For many cocktails that rely on vermouth as one of a limited number of ingredients it’s important to realize that those losses in quality will not be hidden. They will be displayed center stage.

Dolin Dry Vermouth

Looking at both value and flavor – Dolin Dry Vermouth is one of our recommendations for setting up your home bar. If your go to is Martini & Rossi, give yourself an opportunity to branch out and try Dolin Dry Vermouth.

Cocktails with Dolin Dry Vermouth:

The Classic Martini

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac

Posted on April 5, 2020June 21, 2020 by Nick

It would not be unexpected for visions of brown leather furniture and crystal decanters to go through ones head at the mention of Cognac. Exuding an old world luxury, you might imagine a snifter cradling a pretty dark liquor held by men in their finest clothes puffing on cigars in a wood paneled room. While this doubtlessly still happens, Cognac’s markets and demographics have changed, leading to products with different intentions, like Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac.

Wait – what is Cognac?

Before we get into Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac, let’s first talk a little about what Cognac is. Cognac is specific form of Brandy from the Cognac region of France. You can think of this as how bourbon is whiskey – except made to exacting specifications of the law. Cognacs are distilled from wines made from Ugni Blanc (or occasionally two other varietals that make up 2% of Cognac production). These wines are distilled twice under specific restricted processes that end up making eau de vie. These eau de vie are then blended to make Cognac.

The process of blending the aged eau de vies is critical. Wine is a natural product, and therefore changes from year to year. The blending process of taking multiple eau de vies helps to ensure a consistency in the product.

Eau de vie are aged in barrels that can be reused as many times desired (as long as they never contain a non-wine product ie. Bourbon). These ages of these blended eau de vie then help to designate the Cognac’s classificaton. As Cognacs do not wear age statements, these are the classifications to help you understand the product:

V.S. (Very Special) – A minimum of 2 years in oak (sometimes known as three star)
V.S.O.P. (Very Superior Old Pale) – A minimum of 4 years in oak.
Napoleon – A minimum of 6 years in oak.
X.O. (Extra Old) – A minimum of 10 years in oak.
Hors d’âge (Beyond Age) – Equal to X.O. by years – a marketing term to designate a higher quality.

These are really the basics of Cognac – but far from the full trip you could take down the rabbit hole. For a great in-depth read – check out this guide from Eater.

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac represents one of the new style of V.S. cognacs on the market. Specifically designated for mixing, these Cognac’s seek to have a more robust profile to help shine in cocktails. Pierre Ferrand 1840 is made in the Grande Champagne region of Cognac, and is distilled on the lees. The eau de vie are then aged in multiple environments ranging from humid to dry across an unspecified variety of casks. So does Pierre Ferrand 1840 have the right setup to work in cocktails?

Sight: A delightfully rich amber, boarding onto orange.

Smell: Raisins, dried apricot, violets and other flowers wrap with hints of ester and poached pears. Orange marmalade and notes of caramel join in, and hints of leather and tobacco peak around.

Sip: The start is interestingly sweet, and beautifully viscous, almost lanolin like on the tongue. The profile changes gradually, moving from sweet, caramel like and floral with hints of pear and fruit toward something more dense. The transition moves toward oak with a spiced cigar box – and there’s a touch of tannin here from a strong woodsy finish.

Savor: The ending maintains a burnt marshmallow, baked fruits, and strong finish of oak. The ending lingers with abundant spice tannin.

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac is designed for mixing, and has a suitably complex character to justify it’s reasonable price tag. The character is quite good, and the texture is delightful. While one wouldn’t sit back and sip this on it’s own, it plays well in classics like the sidecar. Overall, for the price Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac is well crafted and flavorful.

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac is our go to bottle in our home bar, and our recommendation to you. If you’re beginning a home bar, check out our Beginning Bottles for a Home Bar for more recommendations.

For more info – check our Pierre Ferrand’s Website.

Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur

Posted on July 26, 2019April 28, 2021 by Nick

Every now and then you just have to give into your impulses. On our trip to Florida, we greatly enjoyed indulging in a great variety of cocktails and liquors, including various rums that we can’t get in the Northeast Ohio. Packing up the bottle luggage* for the flight home, we had a little extra room, and stowed away a bottle of Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur.

On Its Own: Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur

A pure impulse buy based on seeking out new flavors, Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur comes in a black bottle, hiding a bright pink liqueur inside. Made in France, Passoa was originated by the Remy-Cointreau group and uses passion fruit as a main ingredient. After getting it home, we generally agreed that the nose certainly implies passion fruit, but that hints of candied watermelon and citrus are present as well. These same flavors carry over on the palate – with a healthy dose of sweetness and just a touch of alcohol on the finish.

In Cocktails

If you’d asked me what cocktails Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur goes in, I’d have looked at you like a deer in the headlights. To be honest, after having the bottle for a couple of months, I’m still rather at a loss. The most famous drink – or so Passoa claims – is the Porn Star Martini. This mix of vanilla vodka and passion fruit is served with a sidecar of champagne – which Absolut was apparently happy to derive an entire marketing document from.

I actually find the entire thing is worth a read, and quite charming. That aside – we’ve yet to find a perfect use for Passoa as of writing this. We certainly believe it has potential, but the market featuring Passoa is still quite small. In the mean time – make yourself a Porn Star Martini as listed on Passoa’s website.

The Porn Star Martini

1.6 oz

Vodka

1.6 oz

Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur

0.4 oz

Vanilla Simple Syrup

0.4 oz

Lime Juice

1.5 oz

Sparkling Wine (Garnish – Optional)

Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a coupe. Serve with a shot glass of prosecco or champagne on the side.

This drink – in fair warning – is quite sweet. The play between the martini itself and the wine is really good – and you wouldn’t be faulted if you combine them.

The Final Word: Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur

Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur is a cool option to add to a full bar. Do you need it? Probably not. But for someone looking for something different, Passoa is a great choice to mix it up.

Other Takes on Passoa Passion Fruit Liqueur

Normally I’d put an outbound link here. However, I went back 9 pages on google and didn’t find one. You’ll just have to trust us – or send in your own take!

Cocktails Featuring Passoa:

Yeah Baby! - A Porn Star Martini Inspired Cocktail — Yeah Baby!

Raw Tasting Notes:

Nick: A charming watermelon pink hue. The nose is loaded with sweet passion fruit and hints of candy watermelon with hints of citrus. The palate is light and bright, with plenty of passion fruit and sweetness coming through. There are floral hints and other touches of tropical elements / citrus. The finish has a touch of liquor too – simpler to vodka.

Ann Marie: Smells like passion fruit. As though it’s juice – there’s a sweetness coming from the nose. Passion Fruit comes through on the palate but with orange. Slight note of alcohol on the finish.