La Maison Fontaine and Sip Or Mix are excited to announce the introduction of two new Finest French Absinthe products.
Following the success of the unique multiple award-winning Fontaine Blanche Absinthe, La Maison Fontaine is continuing to forge a path into the realms of originality with the introduction of the unique:
La Maison Fontaine Chocolat (25% ABV, 70cl)
A chocolate absinthe liqueur. Inspired by a handwritten 1920′sCrème de Cacao recipe found in the recipe books of La Maison Fontaine’s Pontarlier distillery, the Fontaine Chocolat has a sweet richness combined with apparent notes of absinthe and chocolate, which creates a unique soft liqueur.
The range is completed with the addition of a more traditionally recognisable green absinthe:
La Maison Fontaine Verte (55% ABV, 70cl)
Provides a classic complex floral Verte with rich herbal and peppery notes. A close relative to the World’s most awarded blanche absinthe – Fontaine Blanche – characterised by the world famous Pontarlier–grown Grande Absinthe and the natural herbal coloration.
Mark Stringer a Founding Partner commented:
“Our aim has always been to drive a greater understanding of this exceptionally exciting, alluring yet often misunderstood category, but also to create products that offered a volume opportunity for the industry. La Maison Fontaine has established itself a class leader and launching a verte felt like a natural extension but we wanted to go further than that, and push the boundaries with a totally unique offering and opportunity for the industry”.
Allan Gage, La Maison Fontaine’s tastemaker and owner of Sweet & Chilli bar and Cocktail Consultancy said:
“outside of gin, absinthe is probably the most exciting category in the industry, and after playing around with these products it’s unbelievable the versatility that both the Chocolat and Verte offer. Tom Sodden and I have created signature cocktails and pours we expect to see adopted across the world, but Chocolat in particular has enabled us to develop drinks which are some of the most exciting drinks we have created in the last 5 years”.
Sip Or Mix is an independent Importing, Distribution and Brand Management company based in central London. The company focus is on Small Batch, Hand-Crafted, Artisanal and Authentic Spirits and Liqueurs. The current portfolio consists of; St Nicholas Abbey Rum, SW4 London Dry Gin, La Maison Fontaine Absinthe and Jade Liqueurs.
Sip Or Mix is very pleased to announce they are now adding some key Combier products to their portfolio.
“TRIPLE SEC” (an orange liqueur) nowadays named l’Original Combier
Dried bitter orange peels from Haiti and dried sweet orange
peels from Valencia are still used today just as they were back in the 1830′s. They are soaked in water overnight and are stripped by hand of the very bitter pith. These peels are then macerated in alcohol and run through the 130 year old alembic copper pot stills pictured above. Only the “heart” of the distillation is used which is then run through the alembics a second time. (Originally they would have produced the base spirit at the distillery as well, hence the name “Triple Sec” or “triple distilled”) Sugar crystals are added and the distillate is finally reduced to 40% when bottled. In these modern times it’s tempting to streamline production, buy cheaper ingredients and seek to cut costs through better technology. While we must admit that this is necessary for some producers in the 21st Century, it’s
always rewarding to come across a producer who retains an attention to detail and historical accuracy such as at Combier. The very first “Triple Sec” is consequently as close as possible to its’ original recipe today, as it was back in the 1830′s.
“Jean Baptiste Combier’s acclaimed 19th century Élixir Combier is an exotic blend of herbs, plants and other botanicals from France’s Loire Valley, Africa, India and Southeast of Asia. It is unearthed anew from Combier’s 177 year old
distillery’s very own private archives after having been discontinued for
decades since its creation in 1852.”
It’s clear from the reproduced label that this indeed was
very popular back in its heyday, it’s festooned with medals; Angers 1852, Laval 1852 & 1857, Lemans 1857, Bordeaux 1859 & 1863 plus many more. Élixir Combier even seems to have played a role at the famous “Exhibition Philadelphie“ of 1876 – the United States first World’s Fair
celebrating 100 years of Independence.
“Royal Combier was created in 1910 by James
Kummel has been around since the late 1500′s and is interchanged with meaning either Caraway or Cumin. Combier first made Kummel back in the 1850′s and have again re-released an historically authentic product from their recipe archives of the 19th Century.
Please come and visit us at Distil on Stand G30/4F where we will have a full selection from the Combier Distillery available for tasting.
After our very successful series of Sip Or Mix Masterclasses in March with Master Distiller Ted Breaux we are pleased to announce a few additional dates in April and May. Ted will take us through the History and Mystery of Absinthe while we taste all four Jade Absinthes and La Maison Fontaine. We will then taste the very unique Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur also made by Ted Breaux. This will all be finished off with a tasting of the brand new pimento bitters made by Ted Breaux for Dale DeGroff. If you would like to attend any of the events below please email jenny@sipormix.com or contact the venue directly.
24th April – 3.30pm-5.30pm Bartender Masterclass, Paramount
25th April – 3.30p,-5.30pm Bartender Masterclass, Karpo
26th April – Afternoon – in-store tasting, The Whisky Exchange
30th April – 3-5pm – Bartender Masterclass, Nightjar
– 7pm onwards – Members Monday, this event is for discerning drinkers who are members of the public and are interested in learning more about their libations. If you would like to sign up for this event please email info@barnightjar.com
1st May – 3pm, Bartender Masterlcass, Wax Jambu
2nd May – Afternoon – Bartender Masterclass, Brighton
– Evening – Consumer Masterclass, Brighton
Both of these events are hosted by Mixology Group If you would like to attend please email myles@mixologygroup.co.uk
3rd May – Afternoon – in-store tasting – Gerry’s
Sunday is F.B.I. (Food and Beverage Industry) Night at The Zetter Townhouse and on the 18th March we were lucky enough to have Ted Breaux along. We had some Absinthe and Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur available for tasting and met lots of really great people. We then went back on the 19th for a Bartender Masterclass in the afternoon. We would like to thank The Zetter Townhouse enormously for such enjoyable events! Special thanks goes out to Kamil, Cami, Chris, Nico and Ben.
We kicked off our series of Absinthe Masterclasses with Ted Breaux for http://www.oxford-alcademics.co.uk/ at http://www.raoulsbar.co.uk/home.php appropriately on National Absinthe Day (U.S.) 5th March 2012. 
Ted took a packed house through the History and Mystery of Absinthe while tasting the Jade range of Absinthes, followed by a tasting of La Maison Fontaine Absinthe and then finally Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur.
We are very fortunate to still have a few Absinthe Masterclasses with Ted lined up in March. For the full list of dates please check here:
http://sipormix.blogspot.com/2012/02/absinthe-masterclass-roadshow-with-ted.html
We would like to thank everyone for their support during 2011 and take this opportunity to share a few of the things we are looking forward to in 2012.
SW4 London Dry Gin
In December we had the first ever batch of SW4 London Dry Gin 47% available. Martin Price the Brand Owner came to The Whisky Exchange in London to talk to customers and sign bottles for the lucky few who laid their hands on a bottle. We are pleased to announce Martin will be putting the 47% into production, probably late Spring, in 2012. We are also looking forward to more regional availability of the 40% and some very exciting new listings for this “Uncommonly Clapham” Gin! For further info please visit: http://www.sw4gin.com/
La Maison Fontaine Absinthe
During 2011 the Absinthe category went from strength to strength and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. If anything, we predict 2012 to be even more important for the category with Absinthe becoming far more mainstream and less misunderstood. The people behind La Maison Fontaine are an incredibly creative lot, for example just take a look at the ” Art of Imagination” on the website: http://www.fontaineabsinthe.com
They have some very exciting plans and although we can’t reveal too much we are confident La Maison Fontaine will be a positive force for change and a leading light in the Absinthe world in 2012.
St Nicholas Abbey Rum
It was lovely to have the Warrens over from Barbados in October for RumFest and of course we will all be back again for RumFest 2012. However, we have something else to look forward to before October and that is the launch of the estate produced, unaged, white Rum! We have some available for tasting and so far everyone who has tried it has loved it and we can tell you it makes an absolutely awesome Daiquiri! We will keep you posted on the New Rum developments, meanwhile you can always have a browse of the St Nicholas Abbey website: http://www.stnicholasabbey.com/
Jade Liqueurs
We are very excited by the prospect of a couple of new products due to come from the Jade stables in 2012. Naturally we cannot tell you too much… other than there will be a new Liqueur and a new, reverse engineered, Absinthe…. exciting indeed! The other good news to come from the Jade stable is we have Ted Breaux himself coming to visit us in the UK this Spring. We will be organising some meet and greet seminars for both the trade and consumers alike and appreciate that having such a formidable Absintheur in our midst can only be good for the category. http://www.bestabsinthe.com/
