Ricard Pastis de Marseille

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)