De Kuyper Genievre Geneva

[TBoner]

Y

Best use of young French genever I saw in my tourney of the French Nord some years ago: in a "bistouille", which is coffee to which genever, rum and brandy were added. I was told (this in Arras) that it had to have those three additions. No doubt each small area had its version, maybe each village. Another person told me you couldn't drink it until a centime (small coin) placed at the bottom of the coffee cup became visible again. The French have come up with some interesting refinements in the domain of alcoholic beverages.

Gary

I read about this same thing in a forum over at eGullet. The description there went like this.

Take a demitasse coffee cup. Place a dime in the bottom. Pour in strong coffee until the dime disappears. Pour in genever until it reappears. Sip at your own pace.

I enjoy the ritual and refinement of things like this, or even the careful making of a good cocktail. It adds to the enjoyment of drinking and makes it an experience rather than just consumption.

[Gillman]

Yes, it is amazing to see the variety in such practices. It must arise from the fact (in olden times) of relative isolation of these places. Today, when everyone (more or less) everywhere knows what a "mojito" is, it is cool to see that these old regional drinks and variations survive. I do hope that jenever and its variants survive, even flourish, and that shochu does in Japan, and so forth. It would be a pity if everyone drank the same 5 drinks around the world. It is noteworthy that economic development both regional and international does not always result in such standardisation. Craft beer has recovered in large parts of Europe in the last 30 years, for example. This is partly due to publicity of these treasures by international writers but also it comes from a revival of local interest, the "confrereries" and so forth.

SB is an American confrererie, fraternity in other words (but not literally since there are numerous female members), a gathering of like-minded people. Today though, the confrereries can be international in composition.

Gary