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Pernod
Lower in proof than its older, more ominous, brother Pernod, the liquor still packs a punch. The unmistakable cloudy green louche that occurs when the liquor is diluted with water gives way to the herbaceous and anise-heavy palate like so many of the fine liquors of the Pastis family. Where Ricard is milky, sweet and more herbal, Pernod is bright golden-green, bitter, but lighter on the palate. It’s much closer in profile to its forbearer than other anise-based liquors. It’s a great absinthe substitute in cocktails like Death in the Afternoon, and often sipped on ice with soda alongside a late morning espresso.
Of course, as our Cop Car drinking team knew none of this, we were pulling it straight out of the bottle when the Sun Valley PD trundled up over the snow bank and shined their flashlights down on us, obviously intrigued with one of our vehicles. We’d been taking turns reading by headlamp passages we barley understood with one arm around Hemingway’s bronze bust and the other holding the poorly photocopied story, pausing only for another undiluted pull from the bottle. The police must’ve thought we were a bunch of harmless literature kooks paying homage to a hero. They left us undisturbed to finish our task. It began to snow harder.
Bottle finished, reading attempted, snow hammering, it was time to go. Fortunately, my girlfriend is no stranger to responsibility, and bearing witness to the effects of 80 proof liquor on a group of mountain town ski bums, she abstained… for the most part. That left one driver for seven people. The black-and-white would have to stay where it was, beside Hemingway, blanketed in ever deepening fluff until it could be retrieved in the morning. We all piled into my girlfriend’s WRX and returned to Ketchum, with the hockey player in the trunk, mud flaps dragging in the fresh white snow. Warm and happy.
Under the less than gentle encouragement of my girlfriend, our misadventure led us to The Casino, a rowdy establishment on Main Street in Ketchum. Hemingway drank there. An old grainy photo of him sitting at the bar hangs on the wall. Like every good bar, The Casino keeps a bottle or two of Pernod on hand. We made it halfway through the second one before calling it quits. It was a Monday and snowing. Being skiers, and not wanting to upset Papa by missing a day in the woods, we went home to rest for the final mission. The next day we all met up at the top of the mountain and skied powder in the trees until our legs burned. On the chair between runs, we reminisced with louched recollection stories from the night before, and The Cop Car drivers crossed the final mission off their checklist.
That’s the give-and-take with booze – it can destroy great people, but it also brings friends old and new together, and connects their stories with stories of the past, linking people and events, adding to our own little place in history.
Here is an easy Pernod cocktail recipe to try at home, courtesy of Epicurious.com:
Pernod Cocktail
2 ounces Pernod1/2 ounce water
1 dash sugar syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
3 or 4 ice cubes
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Tell us: What do you think of Pernod, Ricard, Pastis and other anise-based liquors? Are you a fan and how do you like to enjoy them?
Comments
Nah. Perenod is a girly sort of drink. Most cocktails are awful. Straight Meyers's for me, laddie. Now absinthe and tequila are pretty fine as well. Good bourbon, single malt whiskey are pretty fine as well.
And martinis. The king of cocktails.
May 31, 2011 at 11:28 PM
ano2
I like Pernod poured over ice and left to coagulate a bit. The stuff requires slow, deliberate sipping. A crossword puzzle is a good companion to one or two. But Pernod has other magical properties: It makes shell fish dishes incredibly delicious - especially shrimps and also lobsters. I remember a meal of those crustaceans that was once prepared for me by a chef in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Flaming and fragrant, the liquor mingled with the shells and extracted their richness. Incredible. My bar and my pantry are never without Pernod.
Jun 01, 2011 at 7:15 AM
I found this in the Savoy cocktail book, and find it the perfect aperitif-- zippy and zingy! I dissolve granulated sugar in a bit of water, but obviously simple syrup would be, uh, simpler. Best served in small doses, IMO, so this is for 2 of what I deem the correct size.
BRUNELLE
2 oz Pernod
2 oz lemon juice
(1oz water)
1 tblsp sugar
--Shake, serve up (or on the rocks). Serves 2.
Jun 02, 2011 at 1:44 PM
@yodecat, I think you'd have a different attitude about Pernod if you took a trip to France! It's definitely not a "girly" drink there, where you can see all kinds of men drinking it, ranging from adorable old geezers to tough young thugs. Pretty much the same manly men who guzzle ouzo in Greece.
Jun 02, 2011 at 1:50 PM
ano2
Cougette, You are right. Additionally, and in that vein, Pastis were featured prominently in Irwin Shaw's two books: Rich man Poor and Beggarman Thief, -- all along the Mediterranean coast, in rough bars consumed by even rougher men. Worth a read and may even change @yodecat's mind.
Jun 02, 2011 at 2:13 PM
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