licorice liquorish trivia
excerpt from the dud avocado, chapter one:
"it really hit me for the first time. the waiter had brought us fresh drinks and was pouring the water into my pernod, and ordinarily this would have had quite a cheering effect on me--its changing color usually reminded me of chemistry sets and magic potions, but now the cloudy green liquid looked merely poisonous and the strong licorice smell reminded me of old grandma's cough remedy..."
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reading that reminded me of an intriguing liquor i once tried in france, called ricard. in summertime, licorice flavored drinks are popular in europe, especially mediterranean countries. in fact, taken as a whole, licorice liquors are popular enough to make them the world's 3rd most consumed drink. france has several variations including ricard, pernod, and pastis. they gained popularity during the 20th century after their forerunner, absinthe, was outlawed. the french refer to these drinks as the "milk of provence".
the year was 1994. it was a hot august afternoon, and i was sitting outdoors on a sidewalk at a cafe in the southern part of france, near the swiss border. i watched with fascination as my server poured me ricard on the rocks. the liquor was originally a gorgeous, deep, clear, amber color. but as soon as it hit the ice, it turned like a chameleon. suddenly my drink was a cloudy, opaque, almost grayish color. being the fan of useless random trivia, i was determined to find out the science behind that fun-to-watch mystery. and here's the answer:
the licorice flavor in the drink comes from anise. in strong alcohol, anise oil is clear. hence, the pure forms of these liquors are generally clear or varying shades of amber. but as soon as the alcohol gets diluted with water (or comes into contact with ice), the essential oils crystallize so you can no longer see through them. the drink then turns white or opaque.
and there you have it! i'm sure i officialy have the word "geek" stamped on my forehead... i really fancy an ice cold beverage right about now.
