Forgotten Flavours
Once you start getting in to cocktails, it doesn’t usually take too long before you come across an ingredient you can’t easily get hold of. Whether it’s an unusual syrup that isn’t commercially made, an old liqueur that isn’t available anymore, or a brand new ingredient created by an inventive bartender, sooner of later you will have to start making your own ingredients.
I’m not adverse to having a go at making my own ingredients from time to time, however being inherently lazy and a fervent procrastinator it often takes me months to get around to buying the necessary ingredients and put them together to form a useful product. I am therefore a keen supporter of companies who make my life easier by commercially producing quality versions of unusual ingredients, and Forgotten Flavours is a perfect example of this.
Forgotten Flavours is the brainchild of Philipp Jäckel and Torben Bornhöft, two German bartenders who were unhappy with the quality of some classic cocktail ingredients that are available today, and the unavailability of others, and decided to do something about it. After much research and experimentation they have come up with two products – a falernum and a Swedish Punch – which are now available for work-shy cocktailians like me to make use of.
Forgotten Flavours Falernum
20% ABV
Falernum is a rum-based liqueur popular in Tiki drinks that combines limes, cloves, almond, ginger, and occasionally other ingredients, to create a spicy, sweet mixture full of flavour. Various commercial versions exist, including Fee Brother’s non-alcoholic syrup and John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum which comes in at a relatively light 11% ABV.
The Forgotten Flavours Falernum comes in at a heftier 20%, and was created with the aim of creating a less sweet, more rum-flavoured ingredient that was suitable for use in drinks beyond the usual rum Tiki drinks that call for falernum. Neat it has a hefty clove nose with a mild rum background, and on the tongue starts with a strong lime-zest flavour that then reveals a rum-tinged sweetness and a subtle clove and spice background. It is sweet but not massively so, and overall comes across as more restrained and balanced than most falernums.
Their goal of creating a falernum that works well with spirits other than rum is achieved wonderfully in a drink by Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro which marries it with gin and Peychaud’s bitters to create a complex yet refreshing drink that lets the falernum flavours shine while providing an interesting background depth.
Creole Gimlet
- 1½ shots / 45 ml / 1½ oz Tanqueray dry gin
- ½ shots / 15 ml / ½ oz falernum
- 1 bar-spoon Rose’s Lime Cordial
- 1 bar-spoon plain water
- Dash of lime
- 2-3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
- Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain in to a chilled cocktal glass. Garnish with a lime zest twist.
Forgotten Flavours Swedish Punch
19.5% ABV
Swedish Punch is a liqueur made with a base of Batavia Arak, a distillate of fermented sugar cane juice and fermented Javanese rice that has an earthy, smoky flavour and a definite rum-like taste. The Swedish added sugar, water, tea and lemon to it at home in the eighteenth century to create Swedish Punch which was originally drank warm, and it is still popular today with several commercial bottlings available in Sweden. Tiarre of A Mountain of Crushed Ice has a great write-up on the spirit at her site.
The Forgotten Flavours Swedish Punch has its origins in a recipe found in an old Germany pharmacy book, though Philipp is keen to point out the recipe now used is markedly different to this starting point. It has a mildly smoky aroma, and a sweet lemon flavour which fades to a mild smoke-tinged aromatic finish. It is remarkably smooth compared to the Arak I have, which has quite a harsh, intense flavour to it.
I look forward to experimenting with Swedish Punch, but for my first try Philipp recommended the following, which serves as a great introduction to the ingredient and happily happens to be a delicious drink at the same time. There are several variations which vary the amount of punch used, and the types of citrus, but this is my favourite so far. I served it on the rocks for no particular reason, other than that it would make for a bit of variation in the photos. It works well like this, but feel free to serve up should the mood take you.
Doctor Cocktail
- 2 shots / 60 ml / 2 oz Swedish Punch
- 1 shot / 30 ml / 1 oz freshly-squeezed orange juice
- 1 shot / 30 ml / 1 oz freshly-squeezed lime juice
- Shake all ingredients with ice and strain in to an ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Garnish with an orange or lime zest twist.
Forgotten Flavours Falernum and Swedish Punch can be found in some of the better bars of Germany, and can be purchased directly from Forgotten Flavours.
Posted in Falernum, Reviews, Swedish Punch
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October 14th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Torben & Philipp are both great Bartenders
and their products are also in a fantastic quality.
October 14th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Excellent, another Falernum on the Market!
Have there been talk of distribution outside of Europe?
October 15th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Blair – the Forgotten Flavours products are only sold directly by Torben and Philipp. Unfortunately I doubt US distribution is on the cards.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
We are working on that. It’s not really easy with the us market.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
So exciting! How does the falernum work in tiki drinks? How about compared to the homemade variety?
October 17th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Count me among those who will eagerly be looking for these to hit the US!
October 20th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Rick – as you know I’m not a big tiki drinker, but I have made a pretty good Mai Tai with it. From my own experiences, and comments from Gabriel, home-made recipes tend to be a little sweeter and more spicey than the FF one.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Truly love this site and the forgotten flavors is exactly why. OHGOSH offers bartenders and cocktail lovers alike. A great insite of one mans journey through time and dedication relighting the flame of a forgotten era… Jay you are an inspiration for us all.
Many thanks