Parfait Amour & Lemon Juice

If you read the Violet Champagne D'Amour post from a while back, you probably finished reading the entry wondering when you'd see Parfait Amour again.  You were not alone.  I wondered the same thing. 

Parfait Amour was not consumed at the frat parties I attended, nor at the post-college bars I frequented, nor at anyone's home when friends gathered together to hang out.  Parfait Amour just does not appear on our collective shelves.

Why is that? 

I see random liqueurs on all of my friends' bookshelves: a litany of schnapps flavors, a random creme de menthe, a bottle of After Shock.  Among this random mix of alcohols, I've never seen Parfait Amour.

I'll grant you that most people are not making mixed drinks beyond the whiskey/coke, gin/tonic, vodka/soda variety.  And whatever liqueurs your friends may have on their shelves are probably all nearly as full today as the day they were purchased.  But Parfait Amour does seem to be noticeably absent. 

In any event, here's what Parfait Amour is: "A sweet, violet liqueur made from and tasting of spanish oranges, vanilla, rose and almond."  Cite.  Also, "[the g]eneric [name] for once-popular 19th century liqueur of spices, vanilla, orange, and flowers."  Cite.

The name, and flavor evokes sensuality, but let's not get too carried away down that line of thought.  Parfait Amour is not the Barry White of alcohol, nor the Viagra of alcohol, but it's a hell of a lot closer to those things than say, Montezuma tequlia:

P.S. I just shuddered at the thought of Montezuma tequila.  Even in college, my friends and I should have known better.

Parfait Amour tastes of sweetened violets, even if you've never consumed them, and oranges in the same way that certain wheat beers might taste of oranges.  In other words, it's subtle. Yes there are hints of vanilla, and I suppose almonds as well, but you'll have to search for them.

Its texture is velvety, smooth, and chalky (yes, I realize chalky is not an adjective one would love to read before diving into a bottle purchase, but I mean chalky in the best sense of the word).  The liqueur is inexpensive for the most part, with bottles costing anywhere between $15-25 for around 750ml. 

I looked around, high and low, for recipes containing the liqueur, and kept coming back to the following recommendation:  Parfair Amour should be consumed on its own, or with a small splash of lemon juice.

So here's what I did. 

1 1/2 oz Parfait Amour

Splash of lemon juice

Pour over rocks, stir.

Done.  Easy peasy.  And it's a nice, sweet cocktail.  Imagine the velvety texture, the smooth flavor of the sweetened violet, and then imagine that you turned the house lights up just a touch with the lemon juice.  The lemon juice brings out some dormant vibrancy, and adds a pleasant kick to the laid back Parfait Amour.

And while this is by no means the only way to consume Parfait Amour, it is an entirely suitable aperitif, in the event you find yourself with 3/4s of a bottle lying around after having made the Violet Champagne D'Amour. 

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and in honor of the day, we'll be making Micheladas, the classic beer-based cocktail.  Until then, cheers!

Drink Five - Jack Rose

Our fifth cocktail is the Jack Rose.  Never heard of it before starting this blog. 

My lack of knowledge about drinks never ceases to amaze me - this, despite a solid four years spent in the frat house (Keystone Light, Natural Light and Natty Death...err...I mean, Natural Light Ice were the drinks of choice).

So what is this thing?  I'll give you three choices from which to guess...is it:

a) A whiskey based drink that contains Rose's lime juice as one of the additional ingredients.

b) A vodka based drink that is noticeably red in color due to the grenadine that is also in the drink.

c) A drink whose main traditional component is Applejack, an alcohol made from hard cider.

Have you picked your answer?







It's C. 

Applejack?  Never heard of it either, eh? 

Apparently, no one makes applejack anymore.  Not only that, I'm not sure anyone is making the Jack Rose anymore!  The Ultimate Bar Book - a book that has 1,000 drink recipes - A THOUSAND!!! - doesn't have a Jack Rose cocktail recipe. 

Thankfully, American Bar does have a Jack Rose recipe.  In it, they use something called calvados.  So, I've never even heard of this crap, and I definitely do not have it on hand.  Apparently, after some trusty internet research (the best kind), it appears to be apple brandy.

Already, I'm thinking to myself There's a reason this drink went out of fashion - it had calvados in it for Christ's sake!.  I had to run to the liquor store.  No big deal, except I had no way of knowing if they'd carry this calvados stuff.

And, I'm dressed like a schlub. 

I'm wearing a hoodie with a cardinal bird's face made to look like the ubiquitous Che Guevara face that adorns t-shirts in every Spencer's Gifts location (don't ask about this hoodie's origin...if you know, you know).  Not only do I look under 21 years of age, but I look like I might be robbing the place, as opposed to buying apple brandy.

The store did carry calvados.  They had a selection of calvados.  I could have spent over $100 a bottle if I had wanted to do so.  I decided against the expensive bottlings, and went for the middle ground - a $30 bottle called Calvados Noble-Dame.

Now at the store, the scotch aisle happened to be right next to the brandy/cognac aisle.  It wouldn't hurt to take a peek, just to see what they had, right?  What do you know - Balvenie Doublewood on sale?  Don't mind if I do!

So before I've even made this drink, I'm already out of pocket $75.  Yeah, that's right, I'm including the price of the scotch.  There's a chance that I make the Jack Rose this once, and never again.  I don't suppose I'll acquire a taste for apple brandy either, though we'll see.  I've spent more money on worse things.

Here's the recipe:

Jack Rose
American Bar, page 121

3/4 oz lemon juice
1 barspoon powdered sugar
dashes grenadine
1 1/2 oz Calvados

Shake over ice cubes in a shaker, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Even before my first sip, we know that this drink is going to be crazy sweet.  Between the lemon juice, the grenadine, the POWDERED SUGAR?!?!  Are you kidding me?  Who puts powdered sugar in a cocktail?

I'll cut to the chase - this thing is really awful.  I won't say it's undrinkable, but it's close.  It tastes like lemonade that's gone bad, if that's possible. You can't taste the apple brandy in any way, not that I know what it would taste like. 

It is very sweet too, in a chalky kind of way, in the way that ice tea mixed with too much Splenda tastes chalky.  Someone has to feel me on this one.

The drink was a dud - but maybe all is not lost - I mean, I still have the apple brandy, right?!  I'm going to pour myself a glass in a good ol' brandy snifter.  Look how classy it looks!

Holy hell this stuff is awful too!!  It tastes like it was made in the backyard of a meth lab.  How can anyone drink this?

Thank the lord I bought some scotch tonight - anything to wash this terrible terrible taste out of my mouth.

I do this all for you, my loyal reader, all for you.