Bar Bayonne in Seattle takes its inspiration from Basque Nation, so it’s no shock that there’s a Picon Punch on the menu. However how the drink discovered a house on the newly opened bar is a winding story of American cocktail tradition, immigration and the well-known, typically elusive liqueur Amer Picon.
Picon Punch originated within the American West, almost definitely in San Francisco, within the last years of the nineteenth century. On the time, the bitter French aperitif Amer Picon had simply reached the West Coast, the place an offshoot of East Coast cocktail tradition had been creating because the Gold Rush. So, too, had a Basque immigrant tradition centered on ranching and shepherding, in addition to working family-style eating places and boarding homes. Picon Punch was adopted by these institutions as a home cocktail. To this present day, the drink is strongly related to the Basque diaspora throughout the West, from Reno to Bakersfield, Stockton to Boise.
Largely a “punch” in identify alone—all however just a few historic recipes embrace citrus—Picon Punch is often a mixture of Amer Picon or different manufacturers of “amer” (a bitter French liqueur), grenadine, membership soda and, usually, a small measure of brandy. It’s normally garnished with a lemon twist. One of many earliest printed recipes for the drink seems within the second version of William Boothby’s American Bartender, printed in San Francisco in 1900. There, it’s simply known as Amer Picon, however the form of the drink—the liqueur plus grenadine and soda water—is there. (For some cause, nonetheless, the identical drink within the first version of the guide included orgeat rather than grenadine.)
Amer Picon has not been accessible for some many years in america, and its proof and bitterness ranges have fallen dramatically because the Nineteen Twenties. Within the Basque American communities of the Western U.S., Picon Punch is most frequently made with Torani Amer, a really cheap 80-proof model of the unique Amer Picon.
Zac Overman, beverage director for Bar Bayonne and its companion restaurant, L’Oursin, has lengthy championed European components, plugging them into templates from the American cocktail canon. At L’Oursin, Overman developed a “home Picon” that makes an attempt to seize the flavour of the unique French product because it was within the nineteenth century—a venture that different trendy bartenders have undertaken up to now. His components contains two Italian amari: Amaro Montenegro, which lends orange zest, frankincense and clove, and Amaro Abano, which has sturdy notes of cardamom and cinnamon. Layered on high of that’s orange 3 ways: dry Curaçao, orange bitters and a bitter orange peel–infused impartial grain spirit. Just a little water is added to convey it all the way down to the suitable proof.
For the grenadine element, Overman reached for an additional housemade ingredient, what he’s dubbed “Vinadine,” which makes use of purple wine rather than pomegranate juice and provides pomegranate molasses, yielding a tangy, tannic syrup. This system at Bar Bayonne is tremendous streamlined with drinks just like the Suze-Tonic and Martini Classique; there’s no juicing to do and all the pieces is batched. Within the Picon Punch, Overman noticed a chance to “put one thing on the menu that had not less than some citrusy notes.”
For the brandy, Overman leans on Armagnac, a spirit that has lengthy been important to L’Oursin’s cocktail program. Lastly, there’s the bubbling component. As an alternative of sticking with conventional soda water, Overman opted to push the drink in a spritzy path by topping it with cava. (Not a shocking transfer for somebody who’s been bringing again the cocktail royale for years.) Conserving with the spritz theme, the lemon twist is changed with an orange half-wheel.
Overman says Bar Bayonne’s Picon Punch has been a success with prospects so far. The food-friendly spritz goes completely with the salty, meaty small plates on the bar. In keeping with Overman, “It’s only a actually good, sessionable snacky drink.”
