French Cafes Session with Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller

Posted on July 19, 2008
Filed Under Seamus Harris |

Seamus Harris is a dedicated enthusiast of well-made cocktails who splits his time between Auckland, New Zealand and Shanghai, China. He publishes the Bunnyhugs blog.

This session tried to cover an awful lot of ground in a limited time so the treatment was a little superficial.  There was some interesting information though.

One of the highlights was the discussion of a product called Vin Mariani, a cocoa leaf infused aromatic wine (perhaps something like a quinquina) that was popular in the later 19th century.  This stuff was consumed widely in Europe and the United States before cocaine was made illegal.  Apparently it later morphed into coca-cola under pressure from prohibitionists.

Another interesting point was the lack of citrus juices in early 20th century French cocktails.  France only got into citrus juice containing drinks in the 1920s.  The popularity of gin as a base spirit in early French drinks was also surprising.  Apparently gin appears in the majority of the early drinks.

We also got an insight into what the disappeared liqueur Cordial Medoc was.  Supposedly it was a coffee and citrus liqueur.

Interesting stuff anyway.