I spend a lot of my time in France and generally take to their way of life quite enthusiastically.
With the exception of gin I don't like any spirits, however a French friend introduced me to Pastis a couple of years ago and I took to it immediately
For the unitiated it's an aniseed flavoured drink of around 45%, generally taken with ice and water although an added embellishment is a small dash of almond cordial. Taken late afternoon/early evening with a bowl of almonds and a game of boules I find it very seductive, three or four glasses and you know about it mind.
"Ricard" seems to be the most popular of the better known brands and what I'm accustomed to drinking but, parting from my French friend a few months ago, he gave me a bottle of a more exclusive Pastis for me to drink over Christmas. This one has a wonderfully smooth liqourice flavour and positively glides down, I've taken it as an aperitif and (mostly) limited myself to the one glass. I always thought of it as something I would only drink in the heat of Provence but I'm finding it's just as enjoyable during a UK winter
Anyone else tried it/like it??
I love Ricard. It's the "original" version from Marseille and I think one of the best mass produced versions. I love it and spent many happy Summers in France with my French relatives (a long story) enjoying it.
There are other more "exclusive" versions of pastis as you say, but the original Ricard is my favourite (at the moment). recently I was in Paris and found it not so common in bars. I think it's a more "Midi" thing, I mean the specific Ricard. Pastis is everywhere though.
When we was out in the south of France, a couple of summers ago , it was a great aperitif . Bought afew bottles back , but somehow it doesn't go down as well in the uk .
Try some Ouzo as well , from Greece or Cyprus, which is smoother then the Pastis ;).
Ouzo is good, but Rakı from Turkey or Arak from Lebanon to me is more refined....but that's just me!
Love a little iced Ricard on a hot summers evening on my terrace overlooking the Med, but these days I am careful not to drink too much, I found it was giving me really wierd dreams, sometimes bordering on nightmares. Probably slightly halucigenic, as its very closely related to the highly halucigenic 'Green Fairy' Absinthe'.
love it. perfect for long afternoons, as you can just keep watering it down.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Interesting comment - although Absinthe contains thujone (usu. from Artemisia absinthium, which pastis does not contain), it's not clear what (if anything) causes the absinthe "effect".Originally Posted by Meinessex
Personally, I'm a far bigger fan of pastis than absinthe; wormwood (for me) spoils the clean taste of the anise verte and sweet fennel in pastis.
There's also that slightly magical louche effect with pastis (and absinthe) that adds a certain theatre to its consumption...
Last edited by Broussard; 9th January 2013 at 13:31.
I Prefer Ricard over Pernod or Pastis 51. I've also tried some of the vintage pastis and they're very different, not as strong in taste but nice all the same.
Ha, so it's not just me!
Oh, yesss, by the bucket!
I don't prefer any particular brand, but on a warm summer day it's really nice. In my late teens/early twenties my father lived in France and I went there a lot, the pastis brings back the feeling. Same thing if I want a lager - the Kronenbourg is a favourite.
Never really enjoyed absinthe though, except when I'm too drunk or tired an need to reset my brain. Works fine (almost) every time!
Nicely put, that's another enjoyable aspect of it.
I did wonder if it would work as well, drinking it over here, without the ingredients of sun, boules and a certain "je ne c'est quoi" but I've really enjoyed the one glass of an evening, it's revived fond memories and (temporarily) banished the grey gloom of the UK winter!
The bottle I'm working my way through at the moment is a "Patrimoine Gourmand".
Yep, big fan!
Apart from enjoying it immensely with ice, I find a glass or two after a meal is extremely good for the digestion.
You need to go easy on it, mind you...
I am also a big Pastis fan. Great for the summer, or for bringing out the spirit of summer during the dark winter months. Like others I also prefer Ricard over the other major makes.
I was in France on business with two compatriots (i.e. Danes) who were unacquainted with the ways of the French. We sat down for lunch and I ordered Ricard for all while we studied the menu. The Ricards arrived in the typical medium size glasses with ice cubes already in place. One should then add water from the accompanying carafe d'eau. I stepped out for a call and when I returned they had finished their drinks and complained bitterly that this was the weirdest shots they had ever had. The poor saps had never thought to add water. I felt a little guilty about the lack of guidance, but the lunch soon restored their stomach function.
The French tend to do drinking right. As far as syrupy spirits go, pastis is one of the more drinkable ones... maybe too drinkable. Don't let that stuff near the Scandinavians.
sorry i have to disagree here , over the years ive drunk many types of absinthe from different countrys ranging from £25 to £55 a bottle , ive even gone so far as to make it myself a few times from original recipes by getting and macerating all the required herbs etc even going so far as to double and treble the now 'legal' thujone content and have never had any hallucinations from the drink , tho if high enough in thujone it can make you feel abit strange (sober drunk).
all the mystique surrounding absinthe is way over hyped.
If you like that you should try giving Absinthe a go - with the sugar cube and special spoon thing. It certainly makes for interesting conversation!!
being Italian, I make my pastis with SAMBUCA
I love the way the drink turns milky and under uv light it glows like mad,
it's really cool.
I wouldn't say that they were hallucinations, they were dreams, they happened while I was asleep, but they were definitely the most vivid and lifelike dreams I have ever had, so much so that when I woke I was left wondering... "did all that weird shit really just happen?" Some of these dreams were kinda fun, others not so.
I can't comment on the effects of Absinthe, I've never tried the stuff, but I believe there must at least be some truth in the stories you hear. I guess its all down to your own personal makeup, what you are drinking and how much of the stuff you drink. With most types of alcohol (beer, wine and spirits) I can drink most if not all of the people I know under the table, but when it comes to Pastis and other drugs such as dope, I am a complete lightweight, I can get stoned on less than half a normal size joint.
Am partial to Lebanese and Israeli Arak from time to time - Touma and Askalon are brands I have enjoyed in the past.
Ricard 51 is the best Pastis you can try, it's just WONDERFUL to have it before lunch on a sunny day in Marseille.
I prefer Ricard to Pernod & 51 to Ricard, taste-wise.
Apparently, you are supposed to add the pastis to water, not the other way round & never any ice.
I had some really nice anisone (sp.?) in Majorca, but it came from an unlabelled bottle & was probably home distilled.
______
Jim.
Perhaps you're immune in some way? I've tried absinthe a few times but always had "wierd" dreams and usually some... err... intestinal effects. Drinking neat Zubrowka was also meant to be trippy but I just got very drunk.
No problems with Ricard 51 though
Thujone is not a hallucinogen. It's a narcotic and the types of dreams from these two drugs are very different.
Narcotics definitely put you into a dreamy state and I have had this effect from Absinthe containing high levels of thujone, made by yours truly using fresh wormwood. It is not, in my experience overrated, it's just difficult to get full powered stuff and when you have an alcohol at 70%, it's pretty hard not just to get really pissed without feeling the thujone, unless as I said, it's kick-ass strong.
Rakı from Turkey definitely has a blissful effect and seems to me when drunk in quantity to produce bliss waves not unlike mild hallucinogens. After a good evening on the Rakı, I have always felt loved up and fairly blissful.
I love the different effects that different alcohols produce, a really good whisky is totally different to a good gin or vodka. I love my work because I get to travel and try spirits from many places...
You call that work
Ricard gets my vote too....although I had a bottle of this for Christmas.
Last edited by the.admiral; 9th January 2013 at 18:43.
I haven't drunk pastis since I was in Glasgow some years ago with a colleague who came from that fine city.
We met up with a big bunch of his old buddies and I can't remember what I said, when asked what I was drinking, but it certainly wasn't the Pernod & lemonade that was put in front of me. Rather than upset anyone, I drank it which was a mistake because every other order that night (and there were a lot of them) contained a Pernod & lemonade for me. Perhaps the Scots wouldn't think of us southerners as so effete if they learned to speak the same language
I got addicted (not literally) to it when a teenager in Paris (that and red wine in big plastic bottles).
I use any of the aniseed range as a pick-me-up when I've overdone the beerit works every time......and I'm off again
Last edited by Stanford; 9th January 2013 at 20:34.
I have turned many an afternoon into an evening with Pastis and water in France. With a bit of the almond syrup (syrop d'orgeat) it is called Mauresque. After an epic evening on that, my host presented me with a bottle of each in the morning as a mark of respect for the awesome session.
All this talk is making me thirsty...
I'm so weak-willed.
Got in a mess with pastis but still like it but I prefer Ricard with ice.
Ah,, that's Henri Bardouin, from Waitrose? Nice stuff, smoother than Ricard.
Right, I'll be off to Waitrose to find the Pastis, didn't realise it was readily available here (UK). Smoother than Ricard you say ...........
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