Sirop de Picon
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Picon is a bitter, an apéritif, caramel coloured which traditionally accompanies beer in the east and the north of France.
It is made from a base of fresh oranges which are dried and mixed with a solution of alcohol which is distilled. Picon also contains gentian and quinquina, both in equal measures. The sugar syrup and the caramel are added last.
[edit] Origins
Gaétan Picon, born in 1809, was a scholar who had anapprentice at the distillery of Aix-en-Provence, Toulon and Marseille. In 1837, after taking a trip to Algeria where he had been a part of the French Army, he invented Picon. The aperitif was placed in the category of bitter and took the title of 21°.
At the time, Gaétan Picon had created the first distillery to produce African bitters in an Algerian village, he then went on to create a number of other distilleries: Constantine, Bône and Alger. In 1872, Gaétan Picon returned to France, and he created the first factory for the production of Picon, still in use today, in Marseille.
[edit] Today
Since 1995, Picon has diversified, and now makes two different aperitifs:
- The original: Picon bière, which accompanies beer.
- Picon club, to drink in cocktails with dry white wine.
The Picon title since 1989 has been 18° due to a reduction in the amount of alcohol in the drink.
In 2003, the drink sold 70% in the North and East of France. The total production was 4 million bottles.
[edit] See also
- Gaétan Picon, literary critic.
- Raphaël Picon, French theologian.
