Pastis is a common drink here in France, especially in the South (it originates in Marseilles). It tastes strongly of anise (although not quite as smackyouintheface liquorice-y as Sambuca.) As you can see from the picture, it is typically served with water, which when added turns this pale amber liquor a cloudier color. Formerly a drink predominantly for men, it is now commonly drunk as an apéritif (apéro in slang) by the young people in France. (Apparently this practice hasn’t traveled too far north, because when I ordered a tomate in a café here in Paris, the bartender was so surprised that I was ordering his signature drink that he paid for our whole round.)
Which brings me to the pastis cocktails. While pastis was always drunk with water, now that the young people have moved in, they have put their own spin on it. (These cocktails were known before, but are becoming more and more popular now.) There are at least a dozen cocktails made with pastis, but these are the three that I have tried. The first is my favorite: the tomate. This is pastis and grenadine served with water. Not only do I love the sweetness that the grenadine adds, but I also like the fact that the drink turns bright pink.
The second cocktail is the perroquet, or parrot, so named for its bright green color, which it gets from crème de menthe. While this one is very pretty to look at, I am not personally a fan… the mint and anise together just remind me of medicine.
The third cocktail is known as the mauresque, which is pastis with orgeat, which I don’t know how to say in English, but is a liquor made from barley. Because I found the perroquet too medicinal, I was surprised when I actually liked the mauresque. It’s sweet, but not as sweet as the tomate, and it tastes vaguely herbal.
Of course, if you’re not into cocktails, you can always go for pastis the traditional way. My favorite pastis is Ricard, which is delicious served with just a carafe of cool water.
