Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest The Luxardo brand has been around since 1821 and is one of the oldest European liqueurs. It’s a seventh generation family-owned company and the leading brand for Maraschino liqueur. Luxardo Global Brand Ambassador Gareth “G” Franklin Werdenberg International Corp., the exclusive importer and distributor of Luxardo products in the Philippines, recently brought in Global Brand Ambassador Gareth “G” Franklin (who is half-Filipino) to introduce the brand’s line of liqueurs and gin in a masterclass workshop for bartenders and industry people. During the class, G shared some information about the brand’s history and gave a better understanding of how to use the liqueurs behind the bar. Here are some things we learned: Luxardo Brand Portfolio 1. Luxardo Maraschino Luxardo Maraschino is a staple in every bar and is one of the necessary ingredients to make classic cocktails like Aviation, Last Word, Martinez, and Hemingway Daiquiri. Made from sour Marasca cherries, a variety exclusively cultivated by Luxardo (they now have over 30,000 cherry trees), the Maraschino liqueur has notes of fresh wood, almond, and green grass flavors. It can be confusing because it’s clear and doesn’t taste like cherries. The process follows the original recipe from 1821. The cherries, including flesh, stones (which give it that almond-like flavor), stems, leaves, and skins are macerated for up to three years. It’s then distilled and allowed to mature in Finnish ash wood and diluted and sugared. 2. Triplum Orange Dry (Triple Sec) This is a liqueur obtained from the distilled dried peels of three types of citrus fruits: mainly curaçao (a bitter orange of the Dutch Antilles), together with sweet oranges and mandarins, plus orange blossoms. It follows the same process as making the Maraschino liqueur but only needs to macerate for 24 hours. It’s more floral than other triple sec and has intense notes of citrus fruits, with a hint of bitterness. 3. Limoncello Luxardo First advertised in 1905, this limoncello is obtained from lemon peels that go through maceration and vacuum distillation. It smells like newly gathered lemons and is well-rounded and fresh on the tongue. 4. Amaretto di Saschira This classic almond flavored liqueur is not made from almonds, but from apricot stones, peach stones, cherry stones. The aroma has notes of almond, fruits, and nuts, with flavors of sweet almond and a hint of vanilla. 5. Sour Apple This bright green liqueur made of sweet and sour green apple “represents the future of liqueur,” says G. “As the world is getting smaller and bartenders are traveling around the world, they experience different places and flavors and get inspired in their cocktails. This creates a demand for new flavors.” The Sour Apple has a sharp aroma and taste of green apples and is vibrant on the palate. 6. Bitter Bianco Bitter Bianco comes from a well-balanced distilled infusion of bitter herbs, aromatic plants, and citrus fruits in water and alcohol. It’s fruity with notes of oranges and balanced by hints of spices and botanicals and a lemony finish (although it contains no lemons and is an effect of the distillation process). This gently bitter herbal liqueur is a great mixer for cocktails. 7. BONUS: LUXARDO LONDON DRY GIN This classic style gin has nine botanicals (juniper, coriander, iris, angelica, sedge, licorice, cinnamon, cardamom, bitter orange), is made in house, and is infused for 24 hours before distillation. The recipe dated back to 1833 and was thought to have been lost when their distillery was bombed in 1944. They were able to recover it when someone tried to sell the recipe book salvaged from the distillery years later. It received the International Wine and Spirits Competition Silver Quality Award in 2016. The gin is made in classic London dry style, with floral and citrus notes, with hints of spice. It’s a great addition to your growing gin collection. G served up some cocktails to highlight the Luxardo products. He encouraged everyone to be playful and not be afraid to experiment, to discover tastes and try new things. He stressed that the basis of good cocktails is flavor. “Most people think of food and drink separately. To develop good cocktails, you have to think of flavor in general, and what goes with what,” he shares. Here are some you can make at home: Luxardo Fresco (aperitivo) 200 ml tonic water 20 ml Luxardo Maraschino 5 ml lemon juice Build in the glass with ice. Garnish with fresh rosemary (wet with Sambuca) and cucumber. This fresh and herbal low-ABV drink is a classic bittersweet aperitif to whet the appetite and would be great before meals while sitting with friends. Oh, Snap! (palate cleanser) 2 Snap peas, muddled 40 ml Luxardo London Dry Gin 30 ml Luxardo Maraschino 20 ml lemon juice 5 ml Triplum Orange Dry Muddle snap peas in a shaker. Add ingredients, add ice and shake. Serve in noodle cup with fried noodles, and a bowl of chilies and coriander on the side (add to personal taste). This playful drink is a perfect example of what G meant about flavor. The fresh green flavor of the snap peas goes well with the botanicals of the gin while the triple sec adds floral notes. The noodles inject a bit of fun into the cocktail, and chili and coriander garnishes allow you to personalize your drink to your liking. Sushi Sour 50 ml Amaretto di Saschira 20 ml lemon 2 dashes angostura bitters Add ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain into glass with ice (preferably crushed) Add wasabi to taste Garnish with ginger, furikake. This vibrant cocktail brings Amaretto and Japanese flavors together in a fun, flavorful cocktail. It’s easy to make, and the flavors go well together. Try making this at your next party (maybe even use sashimi as a garnish) and it’ll be a guaranteed hit. Negroni Bianco 30 ml Luxardo London Dry Gin 30 ml Luxardo Bitter Bianco 30 ml Martini Dry Vermouth Pour ingredients in the glass with ice and stir. Garnish with orange slice. New Negroni alert! This Negroni variant substitutes Aperol with Bitter Bianco, making the traditionally red cocktail clear. It’s not as dry or bitter as the traditional Negroni and has creamy honeysuckle notes. G spoke about the misconceptions about liqueurs. “What grinds my gears about liqueurs is when they’re put into a box called modifiers,” he says. “As we’ve seen today, Maraschino takes four years to make, with multiple processes. Not including the time, it takes to grow the cherries. The people who created these and still create them to this day did not intend for them to be labeled in this box. But then also, as bartenders, when you’re making a cocktail, and the liqueur has the most amount of flavor in that cocktail, why would you not just anchor all your flavors around this one flavor. Because it’s got the most weight, I think a lot of what we’ve been taught as bartenders is wrong.” Another misconception he wants to dispute is about the sugar content. “People say, ‘Oh, sugar is bad for you. Well, drinking is bad for you, mate!” he laughs.”You’re not using a lot of it (liqueur) in cocktails, and there’s dilution with shaking and stirring. A vodka-cola has more sugar than a Hemingway Daiquiri. And most things people think are healthy like apple juice or orange juice are packed with way more sugar.” G is getting in touch with his Filipino roots and exploring Filipino flavors. “I really want to experiment with ube. It has a nice creamy coconut flavor to it. The triple sec (Triplum Orange Dry) has this viscosity to it that kind of reminds you of cake. I think that ‘cakiness’ will go well with the ube. Vinegar I think would be another thing that would be good to play around with, because it’s so prominent in Filipino food,” he adds.