The Anatomy of a French Original: Picon Beer

Another interesting and very enjoyable French aperitif is called a Picon Beer. It consists of four parts light-colored beer like Hoegaarden or Kronenbourg, and one part Amer Picon, which to my knowledge is not available in the US. This is much to the chagrin of any Francophile and does not befit the company’s 70 year-old slogan, "Il n'est plus une partie du globe où n'ait pénétré le Picon !" which translates to ("there is no longer any part of the world where Picon hasn't penetrated."). I have however had good luck locating it at various overseas online alcohol dealers and it can be had for about $35 US plus shipping.

The Amer Picon is classified as a bitters, and is added to the beer to both enhance the flavor and increase the alcohol content. Amer Picon is an 18% ABV liquid and when added to beer tends to keep the glass of bitters infused brew hovering around 8-9% ABV. What makes this cocktail special is that it’s one of the most traditional drinks in the north and east of France. Almost every bar and restaurant in Nantes, Lille, and Paris stocks Amer Picon and will gladly serve you a glass if you know enough to order it.

A Picon Beer or as it exists in its alternate spelling, “Picon Biere” is an interesting concoction indeed. The bitters itself has a distinctly orange flavor and really smoothes out the beer that it’s added to. Many people here in America cringe at the thought of adding bitters to a beer, but I would invite anyone with a hearty sense of adventure, or an alcohol-induced dulled capacity for restraint to try a glass. There’s nothing quite like it and it’s a very tough cocktail to try and duplicate without the proper ingredients. There are some home made Amer Picon recipes floating around online but nothing quite stacks up to the original when it’s being used in this concoction.

As smooth as the drink initially looks, tastes, and feels, it finishes with the same amount of bite that the beer you are using to create the beverage possesses. This throws many first time drinkers and people who are not used to beer cocktails through many different reactions. Some people have commented to me that the bitter beer finish is amplified due to the initial smooth, sweet flavor of the Amer Picon. Others have told me they would prefer to enhance other beers with the bitters, but to leave their much-coveted pilsners alone. To be honest it took me a couple of glasses to get used to the very unique and very unnerving blend myself, but after the initial shock wore off I was hooked, and I couldn’t go anywhere in France without sampling the town’s very own local version of this cocktail.

The potency of a Picon Beer should not be underestimated. I try to treat each glass like I would any other cocktail, and ensure that I’m enjoying it responsibly and am spending an adequate amount of time absorbing the alcohol before I order another. Then again, one needs to spend a good deal of time drinking a Pecon Beer to truly appreciate and take in the flavor and the heritage of this cocktail.