Tastes

Appearance: Dark crimson/ruby/brick red. Aroma: Clove, cinnamon, allspice, citrus peel, red wine lees. There is a slight fruity note and in certain respects this is reminiscent of the nose of amari. Flavour (neat): Clove, cinnamon, anise, fennel, gentian (maybe?). Fruity notes again. The flavour is less intense than the nose would make you think, but it has a mildly astringent and anaesthetising quality. The colour is the same as that of Angostura bitters - and I mean exactly the same. The manufacturers clearly wanted a product that would not produce an unusual colour in drinks where Angostura contributes its distinctive hue. The aroma is quite similar to Angostura, but there are a couple of differences. This has an obvious note of clove oil, with cinnamon and other spices in support over a dark fruity background. Angostura is similar but it has a prominent liquorice root or anise note (maybe both?) rather than clove and the background has a touch more citrus. In terms of flavour, the Australian bitters starts out quite spicy but then settles down, with little waves of clove and other spices returning. Angostura starts more softly but then builds as more and more spicy notes emerge. It is also, in my opinion, the more "bitter" of the two bitters. In drinks the difference is still noted, but less so and it is simpler. First I tried both in lemon, lime and bitters (sparkling lemonade, lime syrup and bitters) and then in a pink gin. In both cases the appearance was identical. The Australian bitters produced fractionally spicier drinks whilst Angostura gave a tad more bitterness, however they were very close and if you were not drinking analytically you probably would not notice which was being used. They are also similar in price, so if you are in Australia and see this when you are shopping for bitters you can buy it with confidence. They also produce orange, grapefruit and barrel spice bitters and I'll compare their orange to Angostura orange some time. "Very Good" : 85/100 (4 stars)

Appearance (neat): Transparent amber-gold. (diluted): Cloudy, pearlescent cream (a little like coconut milk) with a golden hue, the depth of colour depending on the degree of dilution. Aroma: Anise and liquorice. Flavour and Texture: Tasted neat, Ricard has an almost unpleasantly strong anise flavour, but that's not how it should ever be taken. The classic dilution is 1:5 with ice-cold water and optionally ice (always add the water first) and it is best when very cold. In this form the flavour is still focused on anise, fennel and liquorice root however it also has a slightly sweet and astringent/numbing herbal character. It's not sugar-sweet at all, however, and the texture is like water. I also get a growing flinty, metallic flavor by the time I’m half-way through a glass that I do not get from better pastis like Henri Bardouin. Pastis is a style of spirit created about a century ago in the wake of absinthe prohibition. Pastis are not just absinthe without the wormwood, there are other differences in character, but it's fair to say that they were certainly designed to take the place of absinthe. The best examples are very good, but none have the complexity and texture to be found in absinthe. Whether or not you like this aperitif will depend entirely on whether you like liquorice, particularly the more intense European type. If you enjoy ouzo or black sambuca then there is a good chance you will also enjoy Ricard, or any other pastis. It's the sort of spirit that can depend on mood and setting to appeal. Taste a pastis on a cold winter evening and you will probably enjoy it less than if you sipped it on a hot afternoon, on a quiet shady verandah overlooking the ocean and listening to cicadas chirping. Then again, I guess that's true for many drinks, isn't it? I also find pastis goes excellently with seafood. Ricard is an above average pastis, but certainly not one of the finest. However along with Pernod Anise Liqueur it is the one you are most likely to find outside France. "Above Average" : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

Appearance: Bright amber/red. Aroma: Crisp sweet citrus with a bitter quality. It most definitely smells of grapefruit. Flavour and Texture (neat): Sweet with restrained citrus flavours. Quite gentle and with a tangello or orange quality. As it sits in the mouth, and particularly as you swallow, grapefruit becomes dominant. It has a restrained bitter quality and the texture is neutral. This is a fairly new apero, I believe. The main ingredient is ruby grapefruit and it does very much taste and smell of that fruit. It is easy to drink and has a mild and agreeable character. There is a light bitterness but it is not much more than that of a sweet grapefruit. I think there is also some herbal bitterness but I doubt they use wormwood - it is not that intense. It's probably gentian. You can enjoy this lightly chilled from the fridge, or over ice, or with a mixer. However I suspect it would be quickly lost in a cocktail with heavier flavours. I was enjoying my neat tasting sample so much I finished it off before trying it with any mixers. What a shame, I had to pour another. It's very refreshing with soda and a slice of citrus, and also works with sparkling lemonade. I suspect it would team spectacularly with brut or even a very pale and delicate Provençal rosé. Oh! I bet it goes with gin ... one minute ... yes! it does: Ice, 1 part gin, 2 parts Pampelle, top up with tonic and garnish with a slice of lime. Excellent! It's similar to Aperol, but more demure and restrained. It's not expensive and if you enjoy Aperol it is well worth trying as a change - you won't be disappointed. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Appearance: Opaque dark brown/grey. In some lights it looks olive-drab. It bears an unnerving similarity to a puddle of muddy water with an oil haze on top. Aroma: Milk chocolate. Flavour and Texture: Very sweet milk chocolate with a background note of caramel - rather confectionary in taste. The texture is syrupy to the point of being gloopy and cloying. We bought this last weekend from a pop-up stall where we also bought a bottle of limoncello. This is made by the same people (Cello), but on the bottle it is styled "Dolce by Cello". This is from their range of lower proof liqueurs that are milk based. The colour is unusual and not very appetising. It does not look like the colour in the thumbnail for this listing, being much more grey-green in tone. I expect it is actually a very natural product with the colour not being artificial, but in this case a drop of dark brown colour would not have hurt. The flavour is pleasant, but ordinary. They say this is milk-based and I would not be at all surprised if they actually used condensed milk - either that or there is some sort of cooking or pasteurising process going on because the milk definitely seems caramelised. Not very inspiring. I wish I could be more complimentary but this is a sub-par product and it's not particularly cheap. It's almost twice the price of Mozart Gold but it compares to that liqueur as Hersheys does to Lindt. "Inferior" : 68/100 (1.75 stars)

Appearance: Lurid dark purple/red. Aroma: Synthetic berry-flavoured cordial. Flavour and Texture: Intensely sweet generic berry flavours with a tart kick from citric acid. The texture is thick and syrupy. I don't really want to beat-up Monin specifically. This review could just as easily have been for any other commercial grenadine syrup. They are all pretty much equivalent and far removed from the genuine article. Even the best brands are concocted from flavourings and colour rather than pomegranate juice or concentrate and they all contain preservative, have a generic artificial "berry" flavour and often an aroma of vanilla, which is completely wrong. The bottom-shelf products can be truly wretched and have a synthetic appearance, smell and flavour. Real grenadine is very easy to make yourself, will cost you less than the commercial stuff and tastes infinitely better. Put 250ml of pomegranate juice into a saucepan with 250g of white sugar and 30ml of pomegranate molasses. Heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar is dissolved (don't let it boil). That's it. Let it cool, bottle it (the recipe makes just under 500 ml) and keep it in the fridge. It will last a couple of weeks. That's my recipe. Google it or search Youtube and you'll find dozens more. Once you taste the difference real grenadine makes to your cocktails and mixed drinks you will never turn back. There are many syrups, extracts, infusions, macerations, tinctures and liqueurs you can easily make at home, and it's very satisfying to transform a good cocktail recipe into a great one by using ingredients you have made yourself. Oh - and as for Molin grenadine syrup, it's one of the better ones so it's ... "Inferior" : 65/100 (1.5 stars)

Appearance: Opaque bright yellow. Aroma: Strong aroma of lemon zest. Oily rather than fruity. Flavour and Texture: Thick and sweet with an assertive lemon character. Oily texture with intrusive bitterness on the finish. You can taste the presence of fruit pith. Cello is a relatively young Sydney company that has been making liqueurs for about ten years, but they have had a low profile until recently. They specialize in a range of fruit “cellos” (lemon, orange, lime etc.) as well as a range they call “dolce”, which are sweeter, thicker and dairy-based (chocolate, coffee, coconut and a variety of fruit flavours). This is an acceptable limoncello, better than some I’ve tasted but it’s nowhere near the best in class. Limoncello is easy to make (I make it myself frequently) but there is a trick to getting it right and they have messed it up a bit here. A good limoncello should be sweet and sour, fruity and oily, but not particularly bitter. The common fault with commercial versions, even some of the best ones, is too much bitterness caused by allowing white pith to remain attached to the peel and you absolutely taste that here. “Adequate” : 73/100 (2.25 stars)