One of the best Crème de Framboise we have ever had, and thankfully available in the U.S. !
Notes: A small company in the Alsace Lorraine area of France founded in 1870 and one of the last family owned liqueur companies dedicated to traditional era de vies and crèmes.
Using top quality fruit and consummate distillation skills they produce a wonderful line of products of eau de vies (unsweetened fruit brandies) and crèmes ( a type of liqueur noted for sits heavy thick body and high sugar content around 400 grams per liter rather than a liqueurs 200 grams per liter) which we intend to review and list as soon as we get hold of them.
This their Frambois, could be considered their flagship product, the first to distill wild raspberries on a (small) commercial basis this product caught the fancy of the Queen of Sweden in 1913 on one of her many visits to the area.
Appearance: Clear reddish brown like a younger port, oily, somewhat thick body, on swirling leaves a nice oily coating on the glass with thick legs slowly forming
First Impression: Lovely scents of raspberries and sugar, almost a fruit dessert for the nose before you even taste it.
It is a full natural scent of raspberries, including the slightly woody and a touch bitter smell of the seeds, definitely not some chemical equivalent from a stainless steel tank in New Jersey
Taste: Sweet thick mouthfeel on entry of raspberries and almost cherries, a wonderful liquid jam like mouthfeel and amazing intensity of flavor that is somehow not sticky but quite sweet ( not using corn syrup would be one facet to the answer of that question).With a lingering but intense long finish in which you can fast all the parts of the fruit including the hard to capture seed qualities – something a lot of artificial fruit equivalents seem to ignore, but this has the intensity , almost cherry like raspberry and the seed, and juice components that can’t be faked ( because it is all natural).
Drinks: A crème can be used in many ways, straight or over ice in a liqueur glass, with white wine or champagne (kir or kir royale) as a modifying ingredient cocktails for extra complexity and depth in a cocktail, or as an ice cream and dessert topping and great in coffee or cocoa drinks.
Bottle: Fairly straightforward clear glass, somewhat heavier construction with a small punt at the bottom.Simple but attractive label in off white with graphic of a raspberry and leaves on it and printing in attractive script.
Black plastic neck wrap with a black plastic topped composite cork ( better to prevent oxidation and leakage than a natural cork – or God forbid a screw cap !)
Other: Also good in cooking-sauces, glazes, or on ice cream. Try it in your mineral water for the for an adult alternative to soda (in Sweden this would be called Safft using lingonberry syrup).
Final Thoughts: Does not get much better than this one, great quality and one of the few traditional crèmes out there anymore
Website: http://mobile.dreyfusashby.com/GE.htm
Importers website, not a lot of information but worth a look.
http://massenez.com/en/histoire-distillerie-massenez/
Great line up of products and some information about the entire line of products