New Pear Flavored Vodka Gaining in Popularity

A few years back I enjoyed my first bottle of pear brandy. I remember that I bought it at a place called Bob's Liquor in south St. Louis on Gravois. Bob's is a throwback to the times when there were real liquor stores in the city: seedy places where you could buy not only alcohol, but also get a good cigar and a copy of the racing form. These places were closer to a neighborhood bar than anything else. There was usually a TV on behind the counter and a couple of regulars hanging around talking sports and politics. It smelled of years of spilt beer and stale cigarette smoke and the floor was always sticky. Nowadays there aren't too many of the neighborhood liquor stores left; being replaced by larger liquor aisles in the supermarket and upscale wine and cheese stores.

Bob's was the only place that was relatively close where I thought I could find a real bottle of pear brandy. I remember stopping to get a haircut on the way. Now I go to great Clips like everybody else, but back then I went to a barbershop, the kind with the striped pole, leather strap, and straight razor that dates back to the days when barbers not only cut your hair, but also performed surgery on you. There was one fellow ahead of me. I remember noticing that he looked like a throwback to the 1940's or 1950's. Craggy features, muscular build; square-jawed with a crew cut, white shirt and blue jeans. He was an older fellow, maybe in his early fifties. He was talking to the barber in a loud voice. Something about the barber nicking him on the side of his face while he was getting a shave. Who gets a full shave with a straight razor in a barbershop nowadays? The man's voice sounded a little slurred, like maybe he was on his second Bloody Mary of the morning. Anyway, he stormed out of the shop, wiping his face on the towel and threatening to do some nasty things to the barber.

I got my haircut and headed on to Bob's. Now the other thing that made Bob's Liquor store like a bar was that they gave out samples. There was a table set up in the back with a bottle and some paper cups on it. You could come on in and pour yourself a shot. To my surprise, the guy from the barbershop was standing there next to the table. It looked as if he had already made a purchase, as he was holding a brown bag in his hands. He looked at me staring at him and returned a chilling stare. Then he downed a shot of what was on the table and walked out the door. I remember thinking that he was such a throwback to another time. For a moment I felt like I was in a Hemingway novel. Image of Pappa knocking back a glass of Absinthe in some cantina.

I enjoyed the pear brandy, but it was kind of expensive, so I don't think I'll be indulging often. They really do put the bottles over the buds on the tree to grow the whole fruit inside the bottle. Just imagine a whole pear swimming in a sea of brandy. It had a nice fruity bouquet, but the taste of the fruit was also very subtle, not at all overpowering.

The latest new trend in fruit flavored spirits is pear-flavored vodkas. Absolut launched a new pear-flavored vodka in January and Grey Goose La Poire was released in February. Pear flavoring in everything from soft drinks and tea to a new pear-flavored schnapps seems to be replacing the previous favorite flavor: apple. According to Esquire Magazine's Food editor John Mariani: " I think these mini-trends come along solely because other flavors have become tired. They (pears) are always sweet, which is to the American taste. And pears, for some reason, have a slightly more refined image than apples."

The new pear vodkas are made with the French Anjou pear, prized for its sweetness and aroma of honeysuckle and wildflower. (Hartford Courant)

Maybe its time for the guy out of the Hemingway novel to try one of the new pear-flavored drinks; might soften his image a little.