Drinks of the Month

RinQuinQuin à la pêche

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on August 16 2014 at 10:04

I love old-fashioned French aperitifs but the name of this Provençal one makes it doubly irresistible. And the peach flavour makes it perfect for this time of year.

RinQuinQuin - pronounced ran can can - is named after the Occitan verb requinquilhar - to cheer up or invigorate. It’s a 15% white wine based aperitif aromatised with three different kinds of peaches, peach stones and leaves which gives it a really intense natural peachy flavour (so not like Archer’s)

The classic way to drink it would be chilled on its own or on the rocks but it also makes a delicous low alcohol drink topped up with tonic.

Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen is using it for a cocktail called the French Lieutenant’s Woman along with another lovely French aperitif called Lillet Blanc: pour 5ml RinQuinQuin and 35ml Lillet Blanc into a champagne flute, top with tonic and garnish with a lemon twist. (All ingredients should be chilled, obviously.) Or use it to boost the peach flavour of a bellini.

I also like the producer's idea of drinking it with fruit salad though perhaps not with foie gras as the French (of course) suggest. You could also add it to a peach compote or jam (I love adding a little booze to jams).

It would be a great bottle to take to the hosts who have everything. You can buy it from thedrinkshop.com for £17.22, The Whisky Exchange for £17.95 and, I’m sure, from smart department stores and off-licences.

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