For ➊5 cl Picon
10 cl dry white wine like sauvignon
Pour Picon in a cooled glass. Add cooled white wine.
Serve immediately.
Serve immediately.
The famous Amer Picon cordial, (bitter Picon) was invented by Gaetan Picon in 1837 in French colony Algeria. He set up a proper Picon-factory in Marseille in 1872. Picon was born in Genua (annexed by France at the time) and knew Italian ameros, the bitter herbal liquors to get through winters. The original formula was close to these traditional Italian bitters with a mix of bitter orange extracts, quinine bark, gentian root and distilled alcohol.
Picon became especially popular in the North and East of France, the poorer areas of the Republic, as a cheap way to heighten the alcohol volume when a a generous shot was added to the beer.
For some unexplained reasons, the habit crossed the border to Belgium, where in the 1920's & '30's the shot was added to white wine, normally dry but it could be sweet as well.
For that reason, what is called Picon Bière in France is sold in Belgium (and the rest of the world) as Amer Picon. The so-called Picon Club became a hit, and Picon launched it's own 'Picon Club' variety to be added to white wine. Meanwhile, the alcohol volume was reduced to 21° (for the Amer) and 18° (for the Orange version). In the USA, where the original was popular in the 20's and '30's, some manufacturers have tried to re-establish the original formula with the classic strength.
As for the cocktail, some have come up with some sweetener like Cointreau, adding some lemon juice to adjust the citrus and lower the sweetness, some adding cognac to heighten the alcohol volume.
Picon can also be drunk on the rocks.
