Apéritifs and Digestifs

I'm learning more and more about wine and fortified wines in my new job at Calories. Calories is a little french bistro in Saskatoon, which I consider to be the best restaurant in Saskatoon. I'm not just saying that because I work there. The food is amazing and truly a work of art, the wine list is impressive and ever growing. I'm hoping to start working the evening/dinner shifts as it is much more formal, not only is the money a LOT better than during the lunch shifts, but I actually get to put my wine knowledge to use.

The drink menu I'm not super knowledgeable on is the Apéritifs and Digestifs. So I've done some studying and am going to share my new found knowledge with you.


An apéritif is an alcoholic drink that you have before dinner to wet your appetite. It's supposed to make your meal taste better.

"The word is French and is derived from the Latin verb "aperire", which means to open. This etymology is fitting since an apéritif opens the meal." (Wikipedia)

Some common drinks served as apéritifs which are on the menu at Calories are:

Kir, which is a créme de cassis(black currant liquor) with white wine.
Kir Royale, is the same drink topped up with Champagne instead of white wine.

A Manhattan(which I ordered once in a restaurant in Vancouver and the bartender had never made one before) can be ordered a few different ways, the ingredients are Whiskey, Vermouth, and Bitters with a maraschino cherry in the glass. They can be ordered sweet, or dry depending on the ratio of Whiskey to Vermouth.

Now on to Scotch (My husband is a big fan of scotch, me not as much)

Laphroaig 10 year old(pronounced: LaFROYG) is said to mean "the beautiful hollow by the broad bay"
Laphroaig is known to be an aquired taste, it has a very strong peaty and smoky taste.
The distillery is on the island of Islay off the West Coast of Scotland.

Lagavulin 16 year old is also on the island of Islay in Scotland
It has strong flavours of iodine as well as peat and is not recommended for new scotch drinkers. It's one of those scotches that you either love or you hate.
In the 19th century, the owners of the Lagavulin distillery tried to sue Laphroaig because they were supposedly stealing their style of scotch making.
(These truly are the days of our lives....)

Glenmorangie is pronounced GlenMORanjee, with emphasis on the MOR, like orangey. A lot of people pronounce it GlenmorANGee, but this is incorrect. The scotch is first aged in American bourbon casks, then transfers the scotch to casks which have previously been used to mature wines using different wine casks to create different flavour characters in the scotch.
Calories carries the Port Wood Finish, which has aromas of butterscotch and dark chocolate, with a smooth feel on the palate. This is best enjoyed after a meal as a digestif.

Drambuie, meaning "The drink that satisfies"
It is produced in the Isle of Skye in Scotland and was said to be a gift from Prince Charles Edward Stuart to Captain John Mackinnon. The Mackinnon family has produced Drambuie since.
Drambuie has flavours of honey and herbs and is golden yellow in colour. It is made with Scotch whiskey liqueur, honey, and a blend of herbs and spices. It can be consumed on ice, straight up, or in a cocktail.


Ricard has an interesting story. When Absinthe was banned in France, the two major producers of absinthe, Pernod and Ricard, joined forces to make the same drink without the wormwood(which was the ingredient in absinthe that made you "trip out"). They made it with more star anise giving it the liquorice flavour(which I don't like..Blech!)
It's usually dilluted with water changing it from a yellow colour to a milky colour.
You can also mix it with flavoured syrups to make different cocktails. Some popular mixes are;
Perroquet(parrot) mixed with Green Mint Syrup
Tomate(tomato) mixed with Grenadine
Mauresque(moorish) mixed with Orgeat Syrup(almond flavour)

Pineau de Charentes is made from a blend of unfermented grape must and cognac, it was said to be an accidental discovery. A winemaker in Charente accidentally added grape must to a barrel which he thought was empty but it actually contained some brandy. The blend was put into the cellars for fermentation and a few years later when they opened the barrel to bottle the wine, the winemaker discovered the drink that is now associated with the region of Charente in France.
The drink is sweet, but also contains high levels of alcohol and acidity.

On to Sherry:

Amontillado is a sherry wine, which to me, was made famous by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" which is a great horror story about revenge and murder.
the drink however, started as fino which is a light and very dry sherry, but due to oxidization during fermentation is reclassified as an amontillado sherry which is slightly darker and sweeter.

Oloroso is a darker and richer sherry than amontillado. It is aged much longer and goes through an oxidizing aging process for a much longer period than fino or amontillado. It can be left to age for many decades in American and French oak casks.
Oloroso is said to be off-dry(slightly sweet) with hints of toffee, almond and fig. Depending on the winemaker, it can also have aromas of orange peel, and raisins.

Campari is alcohol and water infused with bitter herbs, aromatic plants, and fruit. It was originally made in Italy and the recipe contains over 60 ingredients that is still kept a secret to this day. The colour of Campari is from cochineal dye(derived from the cochineal insect which is crimson red and very expensive, mainly used in food colouring and cosmetics).
Campari is usually served with soda water, but can also be served with orange juice, or straight up on the rocks.

Pimms No. 1 Cup is a gin based digestif that no one really knows exactly what is in it. It is a dark colour with a reddish tint, and has flavours of spice, and citrus fruits. It was originally made in the 1840s by James Pimm as an aid to digestion.
The most popular cocktail using Pimms is "The Pimms Cup" which is made with one part Pimms No.1 to three parts lemonade or lemon soda and garnished with a slice of cucumber.

Calvados is an apple brandy that can be served as both an apéritif and a digestif. A well made calvados should have balanced flavours of brandy and apple.

Armagnac Sempe is basically the same thing as Cognac but it doesn't go through a double distillation like Cognac(Cognac and Armagnac are both a type of brandy). A legend says that King Henry IV of France had Armagnac and garlic put on his lips when he was born by his grandfather to give him strenth and wisdom for the rest of his life.
Rémy Martin XO is another type of Cognac brandy. It is one of the two most recognizable brands of cognac today.

Chambord is a liqueur made from raspberries, vanilla, honey, and cognac. It is made in the Loire Valley in France, and is the main ingredient in the drink Sex on The Beach.

Poire William is a clear pear brandy from Switzerland. Some bottles of Poire William have a whole pear inside. They could do this by placing a bottle over a budding fruit and allowing it to grow inside. Neat eh?
It can have strong aromas and be dissapointingly mild on the tastebuds.

Grappa is a grape-based spirit made from the leftover skins, stems, and seeds from winemaking. It is very high in alcohol content and can be added to espresso to make caffé corretto. Grappa was originally made in Italy.

That about wraps up this post. Wow! I didn't intend for it to be this long, I guess I got a little carried away! Oops. Well, I hope you all learned something here, at least some useless history that you can pass onto your friends next time you're enjoying a glass of Lagavulin, or Armagnac Sempe.

Cheers!
Andrea