Bookends, but for drinks
The aperitif and digestif, a team experience, is very much alive in restaurants
by Patricia Noonan

The classic aperitif and digestif have not gone away. They've just been evolving in different ways, with a more enlightened marketing approach There are many drink options servers can highlight for pre- and post-dining pleasure, and with wine and beer accounting for more than 70 per cent of bar sales, ensuring your establishment is up with the latest in cocktails and spirits is key to maximize profit.

Keeping abreast of all the new spirits and liqueurs is one thing, but training staff to highlight the best at the appropriate part of the dining experience is another. First, front-of-the-house management needs to have staff keep up with product knowledge, or revive traditional products by experimenting with them in new ways. The bar and wine list needs to be designed to support them in this. They must learn, share and ultimately sell all the possibilities before and after the customer has that main course.

A true aperitif stimulates the appetite. It can be anything from a wine or fortified wine to a cocktail. Traditional aperitifs in the cocktail department are ideally short or tart. They're designed to open up the senses and the palate, paving the way for a meal. The drink shouldn't be cloyingly sweet, heavy or filling, either. Classics in this category are Italian apertivos such as Cynar or Campari and soda, refreshing libations that are making a big comeback.

Dating back to 1860, Campari has a gentle and mysterious bitter taste, probably because it incorporates more than 60 ingredients. Its popularity is so pervasive it's distributed in more than 190 countries. "Campari is our greatest selling aperitif," says Kim Dang, Outlet manager for the Delta Vancouver Suites. With our corporate crowd over the age of twenty five years of age, it actually accounts for 21 percent of sales on our classic aperitif list." A more current update to suggest? Campari and Orange is a classic but change it up to a Campari Ruby, made with Ruby Red Grapefruit juice instead.

With their aromatic herbal qualities, anise-laced spirits such as Pernod, pastis or ouzos, on ice with water, wonderfully stimulate the palate and match well with many types of Mediterranean cuisine. A gin-based martini is especially recommended as an aperitif because of the botanical mix Gin has anywhere from five to twenty botanical flavourings, depending on the brand profile and was originally created to aid in stomach disorders

With the martini revival in full swing, it's best for staff to recommend the simple, classic varieties, as the wildly fruity verisions are simply riding on the elegant heels of the originals. They are, .like any overly sweet cocktail, palate paralysers. Short sours like a classic daiquiri or even cocktails using cranberry juice are excellent, as they're not too sweet and there's a degree of tartness to the fruit juice. Champagne cocktails cross all borders - they include wine, brandy or liqueur and a dash of bitters. Many of the latest liqueurs are used in champagne cocktail creations, so this keeps the drinks current and intriguing. Vermouths, either red or white-wine based, are classics that can be updated to sell as a spritzer-style drink.

There's even an aperitif for those who demand wine before dinner. "The most important aspect about aperitif wines is their level of acidity and alcohol," says John Zsabo, a Toronto-based Master Sommelier. "High-acid, low-alcohol wines make the perfect start to a meal, as they increase gastric juice production to prepare the stomach for digestion (and make us hungry) while the low alcohol won't fill you up or numb your tastebuds."

Zsabo suggests offering a dry, sparkling wine, which he says makes an excellent aperitf. It also adds "a lively kick of Co2, which heightens the refreshing sensation of acidity, not to mention the degree of festivity."

The function of the digestif is the opposite of the aperitif. Many digestifs were originally designed to aid digestion, and like some of the traditional aperitifs, are herb-based. If guests are uncomfortably full after a heavy meal, Todd McDonald of Toronto, national director of Fine Wines & Spirits for PMA Canada, recommends classics such as Inicum or Underberg. Other less medicinal-tasting alternatives are St. Hubertus, Benedictine, Chartreuse or Drambuie.

The digestif range can be anything from brandy, port, liqueur or dessert wine as well. Most importantly, like the aperitif, they should be served as a short drink. The higher alcohol level of a cognac, single-malt whisky and some liqueurs may be too much for patrons who drive, but there are other lower alcohol suggestions in the digestif category which lend resolution to the dining experience. According to Dang, Bailey's, the classic Irish whisky-based liqueur, is still a top seller. (Any cream-based liqueurs are generally less than 20 per cent alcohol by volume.)

In the wine department, there are port wines and varying dessert wines, ideal for the finish to a meal. They are typically less than half the alcohol compared to a spirit like cognac or whisky. In order to keep all possibilities open, the bar and wine lists should group the drinks in the digestif category on a separate menu, much like the function of a dessert menu. Most good stories have a definite beginning, middle and an end. The aperitif and digestif work like a team to begin and complete a meal. The staff and management team should be ready to lead the way and help the customer create a winning dining experience.

Aperitifs

Half and Half
Using a rocks glass, pour one ounce each of white and red vermouth on ice and serve with a twist of lemon.

Vermouth Cassis
Fill highball glass with ice and one ounce each of white vermouth and cassis. Top with club soda and garnish with lemon twist.

Cynar is best served in a highball glass with ice, club soda and a twist of lemon.

A Campari 'Driver' is served like a Screwdriver. Just replace the vodka with 1 1/2 ounces of Campari.

A Campari Ruby is served like a screwdriver with Campari and Ruby Red grapefruit juice replacing vodka and orange juice.

Digestifs

Beautiful
In a snifter, pour 3/4 ounces each of Grand Marnier and cognac.

B&B
If your bar doesn't have Benedictine and Brandy, it's easy to create if the original Benedictine liqueur is at hand. Just pour equal amounts of brandy and Benedictine in a snifter.

Fire & Ice
Pour 1/2 ounce of Kittling Ridge Icewine & Brandy and one ounce of cognac into a snifter.

Framboise Truffle
In a fluted liqueur glass, pour 3/4 ounce of dark creme de cacao and top with 1/2 ounce of Southbrook Farms Framboise or Chambord liqueur.

Napoleon & Josephine
Pour 3/4 ounce each of cognac and Chartreuse into a snifter.

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