Suze Liqueur

My favourite way of drinking Suze - which I was introduced to by my neighbour in France - is with ice and cassis. It really is a wonderful aperitif.

Very tasty, the bitterness is balanced well by the orange and mint. Added a slice of orange and ice.

You can use Suze in at least two ways. One is to mix it with tonic water and throw in some ice for a Suze mezzo. This is what the locals around the French alps do. For a more elaborate confection, take some blended whiskey (I am using Back Tee which is amazingly cheap and very good), Lillet Blanc and Suze to make a Smokey Mizu cocktail. You don´t use much Suze, about a capful to a 50:50 mix of whiskey and Lillet. It has a deep, bass kind of note, really hard to pin down but is analagous to the taste/smell effects of garlic and truffles (it does not taste like those merely that it is a taste/smell effect at once). I keep Suze on stand-by to add some fun to a more elaborate weekend cocktail.