Pama Liqueur?

[Candy]

In the January Vogue there is an ad for Pama a pomegranate liqueur. It came with a perfumed strip and it has an interesting aroma as long as you don't get your nose too close, then it becomes pretty disgusting. Anyone tried this stuff? Yes, no, indifferent?

[RainyDayLatte]

I think it tastes fantastic. I put it in one of the easiest and most delicious mixed drinks in my repetoire. I call it a Sweet Tart. Rocks glass with ice, shot of Pama and the rest is Orangina. If you aren't familiar with it, Orangina is a dry orange soda with a bit of pulp. Not at all like the day-glow, sugary american varities of orange soda's. Orangina is ubiquitous in Europe, but can be found at the occasional Safeway or Trader Joes (from my experience) in the states.

[Tehama]

Oh I am DEFINITELY going to try that. I lovvvvveeeee Orangina! What a great idea. (NC Triangle residents: I know A Southern Season carries Orangina).

[ncyankee101]

I went to Southern Season a couple weeks ago to try to get more Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters, but they didn't have any. Do you remember seeing it there before? I might have gotten the bottle I have now at Parker + Otis, but I was almost certain it was at Southern Season.

[invinotheresverde]

Fee's, Angostura and Regan's orange bitters blow Stirrings out of the water, IMO. Southern Season did you a favor by not having any. ;)

[ncyankee101]

I don't treat the Stirrings orange bitters as a bitters, it tastes more to me like a bitter orange liqueur like a triple sec or curacao, and works very well as one especially for the price of $5.99 for a 12 oz. Makes an excellent maragarita.

[invinotheresverde]

Interesting. Is it still NA?

[ncyankee101]

No idea, those two places are a little out of my way and I don't get there very often. I still have some left so it's not a priority.

[invinotheresverde]

Sorry, I meant to ask if the Stirrings was still non-alcoholic. My q was vague.

[ncyankee101]

Oh I thought na was not available - yes I don't see any mention of alcohol content, I also see "refrigerate after opening" which I missed before oops. Ah well I guess that's to retard mold, which doesn't seem to have been a problem.

[ncyankee101]

I also have made a couple margaritas with Aperol, though I had to change my ratios or the Aperol overpowered the drink, so basically I think I ended up around 3:1:1 rather than my usual 3:2:1. It gave the drink a somewhat different character but it was quite good IMO.

[EvergreenDan]

It is also an ingredient in Amer Boudreau -- an Amer Picon replica comprising Ramazzotti, orange tincture (home made) and blood orange bitters. I'm making my first batch of orange bitters now to try it.

--
www.kindredcocktails.com | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

[ncyankee101]

Just to update, Harris Teeter has Orangina, at a much better price than Parker + Otis (which is similar to Southern Season, though not sure how prices compare) . A 16 oz bottle is $1.29, while the round 10 oz bottle at P+O was $1.59. HT also has a 4 pack of 10 oz for $4.29.

[Tehama]

Well, this is indeed fabulous news. I'm so excited. Plus Orangina reminds me of my grandmother, so I'll be trotting up there today. Thanks!

[invinotheresverde]

Not sure if there's a Trader Joes near you, but they sell Orangina on the cheap, too.

[Tehama]

Thanks!

[invinotheresverde]

Pama has no defined flavor to me. It tastes like sweet...nothing. Pass.

[EvergreenDan]

Did you try it straight? It has an sweet-tart cranberry-like flavor. It has been criticized as not being different enough from cranberry juice to justify the cost (and I do see this), but it definitely has quite a bit of flavor to me.

[invinotheresverde]

Yeah, I tasted it neat. No bueno and just plain blah.

[ncyankee101]

I agree with you Dan, tastes pretty much like sweetened cranberry juice to me. As I said in another thread, I am finding I am very sensitive to tart / sour tastes and the last way I would describe pama is bland.

[invinotheresverde]

It gets lost in every drink I've used it in. You guys get my share.

[Tehama]

Well PAMA has finally made it to N.C. several years late, it appears. Suddenly it is everywhere. I have been enjoying it as a Pomtini on the rocks and splashed into champagne. I love it. I saw the recipes on their website, and just wanted to see if there were any other ideas since this thread first started. Thanks so much!

[ncyankee101]

Edit: never mind, just checked your profile (d'oh) and I see you are in Raleigh. I am pretty sure I got my bottle about a year ago at the one by Triangle Town Center, and I remember seeing it several times in other stores before that ( I live in Durham) and being tempted by it, I think I finally took the plunge when it was on sale for $5 off.

[EvergreenDan]

A crowd-pleasing Pama cocktail is the Pama Batida (a flavored caipirinha -- cachaca, Pama, and lime). This is a great way to introduce people to cocktails. It has enough complexity from the cachaca, isn't too sweet, and has a light berry-like flavor. Much more interesting than, say, a cosmo.

Pama is not as sweet as most liqueurs, so I use more in this Batida than I would in, say, a cassis batida.

--
www.kindredcocktails.com | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

[ncyankee101]

Thats got some pucker factor between the lime and the pama, I added a little simple syrup to take the edge off a bit and liked it better - about a teaspoon in the ratios on your site (which I halved, I mean it is 2 in the afternoon ;-) . Of course I had opened my punt e mes earlier to try it so my palate was a little wrecked. I also tend to be a little sensitive to tartness and need to scale lime back a bit in recipes.

[EvergreenDan]

Yes, rather than add the simple, I'd scale back the lime to your taste. I do like them pretty tart. I think the cachaca can stand up to quite a bit of Pama.

Props to you for the 2pm cocktail!

This was the cocktail that started my wife's transformation from white wine to Cynar-loving, Campari-snorting, cocktail enthusiast. To this day, she likes these.

[Tehama]

Wow! Thanks guys! Apparently I was oblivious to Pama until very recently and then I started seeing it everywhere I looked. I can't wait to try these new ideas. Muchos gracias!

[CFisher]

I found this review online, and went out to buy it and loved it! I used it to make a blended margarita, I didn't like it on its own but I think it works great for fruity girly drinks.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/arti...

[Orphan]

Another Pama fan here, although I usually can't drink more than one Pama cocktail at once.

[coolbean98]

I just got some as a Christmas gift and it was pretty good. Tastes more like real pomegranates than alot of bottled stuff (pomagranate vodka, some pomagranate juice, etc). Not too sweet for my tastes.

That's funny about the ad!

[AlaskaChick]

A splash of Pama in a glass of champagne makes for a good cocktail. Mixing it into a cosmopolitiat is also good.....

[Dave and Stuff]

I have substituded Pama for Triple sec in Margaritas, and while it wasn't amazing, it was pretty damn good!

[momof3]

Try a bit of triple sec or a more high end orange flavor liquor, blends nicely with the PAMA, add some fresh lime and spirt of your choice.

[MartiniQueen]

I used this with pomegranate vodka to make a martini and found it to be somewhat bitter...2 packets of Splenda in the shaker took care of that. :)

[HaagenDazs]

Ahh, Splenda - the stuff my fellow classmates and budding chemists said they would never, ever, ever put in their food after research and experiments. To each his/her own, but what I've heard from them, I wouldn't eat it.

Georgia State University Chemistry Department - names of students withheld.

[MartiniQueen]

I've also substituted a tbsp. of superfine sugar or simple syrup for the Splenda and it works equally well. :)

[Mr Lee Ho]

I've had this several times and find it to be quite good.

There are some good recipies on thier website. Both food and drink.

http://www.pamaliqueur.com/index.html...

FWIW, I'm kinda partial to the margaritas.

[HaagenDazs]

I've had it chilled (in the fridge) by itself and it was fine. Nothing "super-great" but certainly not bad. No offense to wowimadog, but if you haven't tried something on its own without any additions, you can't really comment on the quality.

Candy, just like any magazine perfume/cologne advertisement, you can't really judge the quality by a magazine strip. Especially a liquor or something you actually consume. It would be like someone advertising a cooked lobster smell in a magazine. In reality it would smell like cooked seafood, but probably not appetizing... but cook a lobster in your own home and eating it at your dinner table. Well that's just delicious!

Go by your local liquor store and see if they have the small 1 shot bottles of the stuff. If not, they can order it. It's a relatively inexpensive way to try something that would otherwise be a "risky" investment.

[wowimadog]

i've had it in a pomegranate martini and it was not impressive.