There kept being drinks calling for Suze, so we finally gave in and picked up a bottle.
Tasting Notes
Rory: First sip: mild and sweet, delicate, floral. It turns into a squiggly? rain of ellipses? tv turned to static? bitter note after a second, but it’s subdued. I’ve put it down for a minute, and I’m getting residual gentian earthy-medicine flavors.
We made it two ways, once as the original recipe, and once as equal-parts; after trying both, I preferred the original recipe - the Suze didn’t have enough of a presence in the equal-parts version.
The funny bitter note in the suze is like bunched up fabric, a tight muscle, a thick seam. That all sounds bad, but I like it - it’s interesting without being too much. It breaks up the mild backdrop.
The mezcal is there, but the smoke is more like a beeswax candle than a bonfire. The lime and pineapple are playing supporting notes here; they’re enough to hold up the bitter-floral notes, but not the focus.
I feel like I should have more to say, because I really like it, but everything’s subtle enough that I’m having a hard time thinking of what. (I’m a little surprised I’m finding it subtle, but whatever…)
Ryan: This is a really pleasant drink. Lots of floral notes, very bright, balanced out by the suze bitterness. Surprisingly, despite all the complicated herbal notes, to me it feels like it’s missing a little something–I think maybe I wanted more smokiness from the mezcal? It’s definitely there, but very very faint.
So perhaps I just want to try it with a different mezcal next time? Additionally I prefered the version with less suze; the bitter note at the end just doesn’t quite work for me. if the only thing I was offered was the version with more suze, I’d still drink it though-it’s not overpowering the drink or anything like that, I just think it works a little bit better with less.
I think I have kind of mixed feelings about suze–it’s got a lot of good notes and an interesting flavor profile that isn’t quite like anything else we’ve tried, but there’s definitely a bitter note that to me is on the unpleasant side of bitter (and I do like things like very dark chocolates and black coffee). It’s less overwhelming than some other liqueurs though.
As I sip the last bit, it’s warmed a bit and the pineapple shows through a bit more, and that’s pretty pleasant–it cuts that bitter note I don’t like a bit, and the character of the drink changes a little. I wonder how this would do with pineapple liqueur in place of the juice–I think the pineapple would show up more evenly, but I wonder if the sweetness and smoothness wouldn’t work quite right.
Recipe
- 1 oz Suze (or 3⁄4 oz)
- 3⁄4 oz Yuu Baal Espadin Mezcal
- 3⁄4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
- 3⁄4 oz Lime juice
- 1⁄2 oz Pineapple juice (or 3⁄4oz, if lowering the suze)
Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Source: Jordan Smith
Bonus - Rory compares apertifs
Suze: floral, like an alpine meadow, with some odd scent accompanying. I was surprised by the color - I had expected it to be an unappealing brown, but instead it was yellow like Strega. First sip: mildly sweet and floral, followed by squiggly bitter. Second sip: sweet and floral, significantly less bitter.
Embolded, we revisited Campari and Aperol. first sip of Campari: so sweet! has it always been this sweet? followed by overwhelmingly bitter. Second: sweet! sweet! mildly bitter.
Aperol: it’s just sweet.
Five minutes later, there’s a strong bitter taste in my mouth, but I don’t know where it’s come from. The hazards of back-to-back taste comparisons.