Pastis
 

Do ladies drink pastis as an aperitif and would you be able to order it with lemonade instead of water? I know you can do what you want, but is it acceptable.

What is the price of a bottle of pastis in Paris compared to duty free? anybody know?

You are talking about what I drink all th time. You can mix it with anything you want but I prefer my favorite, Henri Bardouin, with water. My second favorite and less expensive is Pastis 51, the latter unavailable here. There are many pastis.

Would you eat licorice and a lemon simultaneously...because that is what it would taste like!

Thanks cigalechanta, it has become my favourite drink too, since we bought a bottle to try prior to our trip to France. Now I need to buy a second bottle.

Do you think it would be cheaper to buy a bottle duty free to take into France or is it relatively cheap in France?

Lyn

It won't matter because you wonýt find much pastis stateside except for Pernod and Ricaud and on occasion Garnier.
51 is the most common because HB is much more in price. There are several drinks made with Pastis. I'll be back My dog is needy!

ok husband came to the rescue.

La Mauresque
Pour one ounce of pastis into the glass, followed by 1 tablespoon of orgeat syrup (you can substitute almond syrup), then pour in about 4 ounces of cold water, and an ice cube or two if you like. Stir and serve.
La Tomate
Pour one ounce of pastis into the glass, followed by 1 tablespoon of grenadine, then pour in about 4 ounces of cold water, and an ice cube or two if you like. Stir and serve.

Le Perroquet
Pour one ounce of pastis into the glass, followed by 1 tablespoon of green mint syrup, then pour in about 4 ounces of cold water, and an ice cube or two if you like. Stir and serve.
East coast prices differ from the West.
My HB is $28.
Others are below $25 here.
I also bring back, besides 51, the apertif, SUZE but if you don't like Campari, you won't like it.
I lost the Email of a fodorite who was an HB fan: If you are out there, please email me.


these are the three most popular.
My favorite is the Mauresque

Pastis developed from Absenthe, the 'Green Fairy' favored by high society in the late 1800s - Van Gogh was an Absinthe habitue. When outlawed in France - the banned substance that had deleterious and devestating effects on the brain when taken to excess was eliminated and what remained was called Pastis - this is the story but maybe i'm confusing it with Pernod, an exactly same artichoke (??) dervied liquer. Absinthe has recently been re-legalized in several European countries, including Switzerland; the Swiss Jura has the most presitigous Absinthe makers and they now offer tours a la French wine houses.

It's still available in Spain and other countries that never outlawed it. The assumption was this guy who murdered his family was because of Absinthe. They forgot to mention how much wine, and several other drinks he had, There are several books on the subject. I like the Barnard Conrad book, Absinthe, History in A Bottle

You will find various brands of pastis at assorted prices in supermarkets--the hypermarkets (such as LeClerc or Carrefour) usually are cheapest.

Palq, wormwood was the main ingrediant that was removed but still there in smaller amounts in the countries where legal. The drink sold here called "Absenthe" is not the real thing, even though they sell it with the perforated spoon. It's there gimmick.

their, sheila!

Hi Lyn,

Buy your pastis in France.

Drink it up.

Buy a bottle at the duty free shop when you leave France.

Much cheaper than in the US.

>...order it with lemonade instead of water?<

Be careful. You might get Limonade, which is a lemon-flavored fizzy water.

((I))

Hello, Mimi. I think I may be the pastis fan you mentioned above. We chatted about sitting on one another's porch sipping HB, except that you live over there and I live out here! By the way, my HB bottle is getting low and spring is on the horizon, so must hurry back to France to replenish. E-mail: betsy at speakeasy dot org (make the appropriate changes)

I'm not a pastis drinker but a friend of mine is.

When I checked a couple of weeks ago at a Monoprix a fifth of Pernod was 15euro. That's around 20USD.

In St Louis he has to pay almost 30USD for a bottle. As much of it as he drinks he'd be better off living in France. :-)

I find the hypermarche stores like Monoprix to be cheaper then duty free.

By the way order it how you want it. As long as you can explain what you want no one will care how you drink it. I've seen beer mixed with club soda and lemon or mixed with flavored syrups like strawberry. Kirs which are white wine mixed with liquers like cassis or flavored syrups. Communards in Lyon which is beaujolais wine mixed with creme de cassis. There's even a Ricard cooler now. It's like a wine cooler with the bottle and all but it's made with Ricard.

Hi

a few points

Absinthe is freely available in France, Spain & now Switzerland (probably other states too). I've had a bottle for quite a while : people taste it for the experience, but few like it.

Pastis is a South France concoction, but other countries have similar drinks, particularly Ouzo in Greece. It is normally drunk as an aperitif with 4 parts water to one part Pastis. A huge range is available in French supermarkets from about Euro 11 up.

Ricard is the brand of choice in my area.

It is acceptable for females to drink it, but many prefer (in this area) the sweet wines (Muscat de Lunel/Frontignan/Mirepoix or Banyuls) as an aperitif.

Peter
www.the-languedoc-page.com

Most Saturday evenings during the winter, my wife and I make a seafood dish that includes a healthy dollop of pastis. I’m not sure whether it is good form to post a recipe on Fodors, but I’ll start off by saying that this dish will transport you to the Mediterranean.

The ingredients: half a shallot, chopped; a clove of garlic, chopped; two medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped; half a pound of scallops; half a pound of large, raw, shelled, and deveined shrimps; flour; salt and pepper; 3 tablespoons of Pernod; some chopped parsley and a couple of tablespoons of grated parmesan.

Rinse the scallops, pat them dry, salt and pepper them; heat some olive oil in a large skillet; when the oil is hot, dust the scallops with flour and place in the skillet; sear the scallops on all sides; add the shrimp, cook stirring for a couple of minutes; add the chopped shallots and garlic and cook for a minute more; remove the skillet from the heat, pour over the Pernod and ignite; when the flames have died down, return the skillet to the stove, lower the heat to medium and add the tomatoes; stir well and simmer for about five minutes to reduce some of the liquid.

Sprinkle with a bit of chopped parsley and the grated parmesan. Serve on a bed of rice and accompany with snow peas, which have been blanched for two minutes, refreshed, and then re-heated in a little butter.

A French sauvignon-blanc is a perfect match.

Anselm

Thanks everyone for your replies, I'll try the recipe and Mixed drinks.

Now i'll have to go off to the bottle shop and look for some of the other drinks suggested, and then I can try them all again in France.

Ira thanks for that tip about the "limonade".

I sure will bring some back as I am paying almost AU$40. Although no doubt there will be other alcoholic goodies to fill my duty free quota.

Lyn

since this is a europe board, the definition of "lemonade" IS "fizzy lemon flavoured drink". correct me if i'm wrong but this is what you will get...careful or not. i've never seen american style lemonade anywhere in europe.

Thanks for the recipe, AA.

((I))

HB makes a few different varieties of pastis. We bought a complete selection last year in Bourges (all gone now!). But the best pastis we've ever had was made by a friend who's a conductor on Belgian railways. He made it himself. SOO smooth. I am not a pastis drinker, but this was delicious.
Is the normal way for a breakfast of coffee and pastis to have them separately? At our last apartment in Brussels, our repairman was from the south of France. He liked putting pastis IN his coffee.

The South is very much like Italy. My father(Born in Italy) put annisette in his coffee.

Anselm, I loved your recipe! Once here in Las Vegas we had a similar recipe, but no Pernod, so we went to a neighborhood bar and ordred a shot of Pernod to go. Most states won't allow you to take drinks out of the bar, but we were glad Nevada did!

LVSue, glad you liked it.

I can't imagine being able to take a shot out of a bar! I live in Nova Scotia, a province with pretty restrictive drinking laws. We do, however, have Digby scallops, which is a decent trade-off. They are sublime.

Anselm