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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2013 20:02:48 GMT
I am surprised that we have never discussed this topic on the "After Dinner" branch. Then again, we have never discussed cigars on this branch either, which is just as well as far as I am concerned.
This topic came to mind for some reason because I am currently enjoying a glass of Cointreau from a bottle left over from the holiday season. I consider the sweet liqueurs to be quite dangerous because they are so easy to drink -- you can keep filling up your glass until it's too late -- and yet I like things like Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Chartreuse, Bénédictine anyway. Luckily, I do not keep any of them on hand, usually.
I consider cognac to be a safer option, but when it's top quality, for some reason you want more just like the sweet stuff.
So, what do the rest of you drink after dinner other than tea and coffee?
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jan 11, 2013 8:26:15 GMT
Pepto Bismol. Seriously, I like an anís seco with a strong black coffee, but I don't often indulge. The last after dinner drink was the "Cafezcal" to which the management of "aquiles 744" treated me. (Photo elsewhere on APIAS). At La Mesa de Blanca recently, I had a Café de Olla, a non alcoholic coffee brewed with a cinnamon stick an piloncillo (Mexican raw brown sugar). It served as both beverage and dessert. Mesa de Blanca does that very well.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 11, 2013 11:08:22 GMT
Kerouac, I haven't had a liqueur after dinner for years! BUT, I have had lots of Cointreau or Grand Marnier in my desert trifle. Those two liqueurs go beautifully drizzled (heavily) on chunks of sponge or madeira cake, then a layer of strawberries and a little of their syrup(tinned are fine), a scattering of pecan or walnuts, some good custard, then more layers of the same, ending with a thick layer of whipped cream.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2013 17:43:32 GMT
The French still like to live with the illusion that after dinner liqueurs are "digestives" which gives a fine excuse to drink them.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 12, 2015 12:12:12 GMT
Kerouac - send me a reply fast because this time tomorrow I will be strolling the booze aisles in the duty free.....what would you like?? Cognac, a liqueur?? A very drinkable Port? It would be my pleasure to bring you something you like....a lot.
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Post by amboseli on Sept 12, 2015 15:52:41 GMT
I don't usually do after dinner drinks. The last drink I order with a meal in a restaurant is a sweet dessert wine: a muscat or a good aged portwine or Madeira boal. Yummie!
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Post by tod2 on Sept 13, 2015 8:37:07 GMT
Kerouac - thanks for the PM. I will certainly look out for something a little different, maybe with an African touch but it certainly won't be any of those sickly creamy liqueurs that are only good poured over ice cream
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2015 9:22:25 GMT
Thanks for that! I'm all out of ice cream.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 2, 2018 16:12:40 GMT
An unusual cordial that I discovered in Switzerland was a saffron liqueur. I would have never thought that it would be an appropriate drink flavour, but the place that was selling it had little cups for tasting, and it was -- yes, unusual -- but also pretty good! As usual, my Swiss friends prevented me from paying for it, so I found myself in possession of a bottle. There are a few drops left, because as we all know, when we have something that we treasure, we can't bring ourselves to finish it completely. I looked online to see if I could find it, but no -- it is made in a tiny place which doubles as a museum of artisanal fabrication, but there is no way to get it without going there.
However, I found that saffron liqueur is made by a number of places in the Alpine regions, so I ordered some from another place in France. In fact, I bought two bottles, because that brought the total up to "free shipping." It is good, but not as good as the first stuff. It is stronger and actually a bit too saffrony, besides being a bit too sweet. Now that I have written about it, I might have a little taste of it again tonight, because I still have about half of the second bottle left, three years later.
I am intrigued by the attraction of these mountain areas to saffron, though, because on that trip to Switzerland I also had saffron ravioli and saffron caramels. Considering that 90% of the saffron in the world comes from Iran and not the Alps, it was a big surprise to me.
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Post by fumobici on Jan 3, 2018 4:35:37 GMT
The Swiss love anything expensive.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 3, 2018 5:04:50 GMT
Considering that 90% of the saffron in the world comes from Iran and not the Alps, it was a big surprise to me. I keep reading that sentence and have finally decided that you are not saying that the other 10% comes from the Alps. Or are you? The Swiss love anything expensive. I heard on a tv show tonight that the Swiss eat dogs. Well, it was a comedy show & it seemed unlikely, but I looked it up anyway. And yes, they really do eat dogs -- cats, too! Probably not St. Bernards, though.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 3, 2018 5:12:53 GMT
No, the other 10% of saffron comes from just about anywhere in the world.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 13, 2018 21:36:14 GMT
Oh shit, another country I'll have to boycott.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2018 19:05:13 GMT
We're "premiering" our limoncello this evening. The recipe we now use calls for a very very long fermentation process, and, well worth the wait !!!
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Post by whatagain on Feb 19, 2018 19:16:28 GMT
As you know we are blessed in Belgium. Fries, mussels, chocolate, beer and ... digestives : peket, genièvre and my favourite : eau de villée, something that can be associated to limoncello, but much (much) more refined... www.distilleriedebiercee.be/fr/gamme/eau-de-villee/I am starting a job of supplying my french friends with it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 15, 2018 19:39:30 GMT
Cointreau was on sale for -30% last week, so I was obliged to buy some. Now the trick is to not touch the bottle until December when it seems more appropriate to drink things like that.
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Post by fumobici on Jul 16, 2018 2:44:52 GMT
Cointreau was on sale for -30% last week, so I was obliged to buy some. Now the trick is to not touch the bottle until December when it seems more appropriate to drink things like that. My mother liked to pour Cointreau over ice cream for us as a summer cool off. Simple vanilla or chocolate work divine.
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Post by whatagain on Jul 16, 2018 21:09:05 GMT
I had my last Cointreau on 23 July 1993. Will be 25 years soon ! Can still smell it in my memory and feel the nausea that hardly left me the next day.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 17, 2018 15:01:52 GMT
The only reason I can see for Cointreau to exist is to make margaritas.
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Post by whatagain on Jul 17, 2018 15:47:50 GMT
Naaaahhh...
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 17, 2018 16:13:41 GMT
You're not actually supposed to use Cointreau but triple sec.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 17, 2018 17:14:11 GMT
Not true. Either can be used. Triple sec is more commonly used because it costs less & is perfectly okay to use in a margarita. But Cointreau has a more complex flavor and a margarita made with it is considered ritzier.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 17, 2018 18:03:15 GMT
Ritzier as in more expensive for no good reason.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 17, 2018 18:41:37 GMT
Not really no good reason. Cointreau uses the zest of both sweet and bitter oranges, whereas triple sec is more of a straightforward sweet orange flavor. That said, I certainly don't turn down margaritas made with triple sec. What I really, really object to are frozen margaritas.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 10, 2018 19:27:45 GMT
I can't think of any specific reason, but I decided that I had a somewhat difficult week. Since I had also discovered that I had a partial bottle of cachaça in my possession, I decided to make a generous caïpirinha in a large glass, and I did everything officially. I have the Brazilian lime crushing tool, the powdered sugar and the crushed ice, so I got to work. I even have some sealife-killing plastic straws for the complete experience. I am satisfied now.
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Post by whatagain on Aug 10, 2018 23:16:53 GMT
Cai pirinia is great. I was offered a digeo and turned it down. Beginning of wisdom ?
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