Cynar[R]: acquiring a taste for Cynar[R].

I recently brought a bottle of Cynar to a gathering of old friends whose collective taste in spirits tends toward the esoteric. Together we've toasted the winter holidays with cheese fondue and kirschwasser, celebrated birthdays with Goldschlager, marked one couple's engagement with grappa and watched Fourth of July fireworks with rhubarb wine. I was fairly surprised, then, when the Cynar met with an underwhelming response. Hearing what it was made of, some individuals went so far as to refuse even a perfunctory sip. Undeterred, I turned to an expert, and that's when it became clear that we were dealing with more than "an acquired taste." Asked to say a few kind words about Cynar, Dennis Mullaly, a veteran bartender currently working at Otto Pizzeria, replied, "I can't. It's vile, unpalatable stuff."

Fortunately, not everyone feels that way about the herbaceously bittersweet, cola-brown liqueur whose inaugural tagline was "Cynar: against the stress of modern life." Introduced in Italy in 1949, Cynar is made from the leaves of the artichoke plant, or Cynara scolymus, and bottled at 16.5% alcohol by volume (33 proof). In recent years, thanks in part to Americans' growing knowledge of Italian culture, Cynar and the like have begun to command a larger share of domestic bar shelves. According to Heaven Hill Distilleries, whose subsidiary, Premium Imports, Ltd., is responsible for it presence in the US, sales have gained by about 1% per year for the last three years. This may not seem like a significant increase, but it's worth noting that the brand functions on a small case sales level, making even small gains meaningful.

"In 2004, worldwide production was well over a million cases, which is a benchmark number in the distilled beverage industry," says Josh Hafer, director of corporate communications for Heaven Hill. "Obviously most of that goes to Europe and South America. Stateside it's still more of a niche category." Hafer reports that the bulk of domestic sales come from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California, possibly reflecting those states' immigrant populations.

Cynar's label features the familiar artichoke flower head associated with prickly challenge and soft vegetal pleasure, although the stuff inside is actually based on the plants' leaves (not to be confused with the sepals, or the part of the artichoke commonly dipped in Hollandaise sauce). The plants are grown in Macerata and Iesi, in the Italian province of Le Marche. That area's hilly contours and sweeping plains, along with its soil composition, make it as perfect a place for artichoke cultivation as Northern California's Castroville, where nearly 100% of American artichokes are grown. After each plant has been relieved of the dozen or so flower heads it produces each spring, the leaves are cut and placed atop the open plant to dry in the summer sun. They are then distilled in a neutral spirit, along with 12 other botanicals whose type and relative proportions are a tightly guarded secret, as is always the case with "patent liqueurs."

"Italians are crazy," says Eben Klemm, staff mixologist for B.R. Guest restaurants, when asked to speculate on the use of artichokes as a beverage base. "I've heard that they make a liqueur out of radicchio, but I don't know which one it is, because it's all a secret." Of the several barmen contacted for this story, only Dale DeGroff would hazard a guess as to what the other elements might be.

"Well, you know there's quinine, and it has some of the same bitter notes as gin. I'd say there are lemon and lime skins in there, maybe coriander, gentian, anise seed, clove, cinnamon. It was developed after the discovery of the New World, so a lot of those herbs and botanicals and spices from the Caribbean and South America made their way back to Europe," he explains. According to DeGroff, who is the author of The Craft of the Cocktail (Clarkson Potter 2002) and a renowned cocktail consultant, Cynar represents only a fraction of Europe's vegetable and herb-based aperitifs. "If you go to Italy, you'll find hundreds of Cynar-like products that never make it to our shores," he says somewhat wistfully.

The experts I spoke to differed on the best way to serve Cynar. Scott Whitcomb, head bartender at the Biltmore Room, in New York, does not condone mixing it in cocktails, asserting, "I think the correct way to have Cynar is after dinner, in a snifter or a cordial glass. If you've eaten what you consider to be too much food, you should drink it with, or instead of, espresso."

Klemm's staff serves Cynar as a digestif, but he is also enchanted with its cocktail potential. "It's so vermouthy, I'd treat it like a vermouth, maybe mix it with limoncello and ginger beer. It has some nice orange notes, so maybe also orange juice, or tangerines." And, despite his personal aversion, Mullaly does use Cynar in a variety of cocktails that he originally developed to showcase Campari, its bright red sibling whose relative sweetness and strong citrus qualities have won it far more fans.

Cynar is named for cynarin, one of the two active components in artichokes (the other being caffeic acid). Long believed to have an aphrodisiac effect, cynarin has also been credited with a number of human health benefits. In The Sensuous Artichoke (A. C. Castelli Associates 1997), A. C. Castelli summarizes various American, Italian, Polish and Romanian researchers' findings that cynarin reduces the risk of heart disease; that it is useful in the treatment of obesity; that it can reduce the risk of blood clots; and that it inhibits the liver's cholesterol production and has a cleansing effect on that organ. (One can safely assume that the latter effect is mitigated when cynarin is administered in alcoholic beverage form.)

Castelli also writes extensively about Cynar's ability, shared with artichokes in their natural state, to effect the taste buds upon contact, so that any food or drink consumed immediately afterward tastes sweeter than normal. (This property in artichokes makes them notoriously difficult to pair with wines.) In his capacity as marketing director of Cynar of Milan in the US and Canada, Castelli conducted numerous tests whose results supported this fact. He also noticed "that if people did not entertain preconceived notions about [Cynar], and objectively evaluated their reaction, their appreciation increased with exposure to it ... their first drink was well-nigh disastrous, but now they love it."

Bolstered by his findings and hoping to create a few new fans, I intend to give my old friends another chance to love Cynar.

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DENNIS MULLALY

Cynar[R] & Soda (Serves 1)

For the cocktail:

2 ounces Cynar[R]
3 ounces soda water

For the cocktail: Fill a 5-inch tall glass with crushed ice. Pour Cynar[R] and soda water over ice and stir well.

Cynar[R] Martini (Serves 1)

For the cocktail:

2 ounces Cynar[R]
6 ounces vodka
Splash of orange juice

For the cocktail: In cocktail shaker, combine Cynar[R], vodka and orange juice. Add ice and shake hard, strain into chilled martini glass.

Sicilian Iced Tea (Serves 1)

For the cocktail:

4 ounces Prosecco sparkling wine
2 ounces Cynar[R]
Splash of lime juice

For the cocktail: Fill a tall glass with crushed ice. Pour Cynar[R], Prosecco and lime juice over ice and stir well.

Cynar[R] Breeze (Serves 1)

For the cocktail:

1 ounce Cynar[R]
3 ounces vodka
1 ounce grapefruit juice

For the cocktail: Fill a tall glass with crushed ice. Pour Cynar[R], vodka and grapefruit juice over ice and stir well.

EBEN KLEMM

The Bristling Thistle (Serves 4 to 6)

For the raspberry-ginger ice:

8 ounces raspberries
2 ounces peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 ounce sugar
2 cups water
2 ice cube trays

For the cocktail:

1 orange
1 cup Cynar[R]
25 ounces, aromatic, slightly sweet white wine, such as Reisling or
Tocai
6 to 10 small thyme sprigs

For the raspberry-ginger ice: In a bowl, combine raspberries, ginger and sugar and toss gently together. Add water and stir until sugar is dissolved. Divide mixture evenly among compartments of two ice cube trays and harden in freezer until ready to serve.

For the cocktail: Leaving rind intact, slice orange into 1/4-inch thick slices, discarding ends. Cut each slice in half across the center to form half-moon shapes. Place raspberry-ginger ice in a serving pitcher and add orange slices, Cynar[R], wine and thyme; mix well and serve in old fashioned glasses.