I first experienced crème de cassis when I was on holiday in France. It was a warm summers evening and we had been invited to supper with French friends. I was handed a glass of white wine mixed with crème de cassis and was struck by how pretty it looked as the blackcurrant liqueur mixed with the white wine. The drink was pure nectar and I have been hooked ever since!

What is crème de cassis?

Crème de cassis is a blackcurrant liqueur produced in Dijon, the capital of Burgundy. With an alcohol content of 20 % (40 %) proof it should be treated with respect especially if you mix it with white wine, as I like to! Crème de cassis is a beautiful deep purple colour and has a thick sweet syrupy consistency. The smell is of blackcurrants, as you would expect!

French monks first produced Crème de cassis in the 16 th century as a cure for snakebite, jaundice and wretchedness, well that was their excuse! It is now produced in France by a number of producers and with varying quality. I usually pay about £3.99 in France, which gets me a decent bottle. Crème de cassis is available in Sainsburys under their own label where it sells for £5.99 for 500 ml. Tesco also sells crème de cassis for the same price.

Other ways to enjoy crème de cassis.

Crème de cassis can be drunk alone as a liqueur but I find it far to sweet on its own. As well as mixing it with wine (¾ of a glass of wine to ¼ a glass of cassis) cassis can be mixed with champagne, lemonade or tonic water. Here is another one of my favourite ways to drink crème de cassis-

Cassis screwdriver.

1 ½ oz vodka

1 ½ oz orange juice

½ oz cassis

Splash of lemon

Splash of grenadine

Ice and a slice of lemon

Pour the vodka, orange juice and lemon into a shaker half filled with ice and shake. Then pour into a glass with ice add the cassis and grenadine and enjoy it!

Crème de cassis like most alcohol is not a drink to enjoy if you are trying to loose weight. A 1 oz glass will give you 80 calories and 11 grams of carbohydrate. But after a few glasses you really won’t care!