October Newsletter
1836 Auguste Denis Lagoute opens the FIRST house of liqueuers in Dijon
1841 Lagoute creates the Crème de Casiss. Inspired by a visit to Paris.
1858 Henri Lejay, Lagoute’s son in law becomes the key to developing the company.
1859 Lagoute is recognized as the Inventor of Crème de Casiss.
1925 First Geographical Indication (IGP) is established limiting Crème de Cassis production to Dijon only.
The Black currants for Lejay are found in Burgundy, Pay de Loire, Val d’Oise, Rhones- Alpes.
2 berries are used for Lejay Casiss.
Noir de Bourgogne: small concentrated and aromatic with vegetal notes. Rustic and traditional, they are rare because of fragility and lower yields.
Blackdown: A bigger, aromatic berry with higher yields. Less acidic but sweeter than the Noir de Bourgogne.
Maceration, Pressing, Blending.
Starting with Passive Maceration, the let the berries naturally macerate with an addition of neutral spirit. It takes approximately 8-10 weeks for the berries to macerate and infuse the natural flavors without crushing.
No filtering takes places. The juice on the bottom of the tank falls out by gravity through a tube into a settling tank. They call this “Virgin Juice”
The virgin juice, crystal sugar and bud infusion (casiss buds in neutral spirit) are mixed to create the final product.
EL DIABLO
1 part LEJAY® Cassis
2 parts Tequila Reposado
1 part Lime juice
Twelve Cocktails System:
Lowball Cocktail
Base Spirit
Alcoholic modifier
Ice
DIRECTIONS
Shake all ingredients, filter and serve in a tumbler full of ice. Top up with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.
Upcoming National Drink Days!
•October 4: National Vodka Day
•October 19: International Gin & Tonic Day
•October 20: National Brandied Fruit Day
•October 27: National American Beer Day
Techniques
DRY SHAKING:
Dry-shaking is the term that defines shaking the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with no ice. This techniques is used for recipes that call for egg whites to make cocktails foamy.
First you start with a vigorous dry shake, one that lasts at least 15 seconds. After a dry-shake, ice is added to the shaker and the mixture is shook again for roughly 10 seconds in order to chill the drink and add dilution.
Dry-shaking ensures that the egg white incorporates with the other ingredients and that it gets a nice frothy texture.