St Lo Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Hi,We have just started the renovation on our house and have started to get visited by curious members of our small village community could anyone advise on what type of drink to offer the neighbours as a polite gesture ???Thanks and Regards St Lo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard-R Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Coffee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creusois Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 Our neighbours seem to prefer "Scottish Tea"! - served with Coke!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 If it is between 11.30 - 2.00 you offer an appero. Always two. From 9.00 and from 2.00 wine. Then you offer coffee if the wine is refused.They will think you really tight if you offer just coffee. Around here, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjm Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 Well where we are (Mayenne 53) all our friends have Whiskey after 11am until about 1.30pm. Then coffee or beer, between 2pm - 5.30pm and after that it is whiskey all the way through!! Needless to say we have to buy a bottle every week to keep our friends topped up, even though we don't touch the stuff!!You could also try Kir (Cassis and sparkling wine), Martini (straight) or a kind of cherry brandy for ladies and Pastis for the chaps? But these are mostly evening (after 6pm drinks).Best bet is to offer the alcohol first, and if refused go for coffee (or tea maybe?).Adriana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matelot Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 As a side issue, after fifteen years of owning a little cottage in Loir et Cher, I never cease to be astounded of the ability of my French friends to drink alcohol so early in the morning. Let me give you an example…On many occasions while on a DIY break (honest darling!), I have had early morning visits by my French builder friend Michel. At about 8.00am, there I am ‘fully booted and spurred’ in my overalls with a large mug of Typhoo, trying to decide which jobs I can do (or put off!). A van pulls up and in comes Michel - usually to find out what DIY jobs I am about to attempt and what he will have to do to put it right after I make a bordel of it! After the usual greetings, I offer him a drink: “Café?” “Non Merci” “Thé?” He looks at me in horror! “Vous avez un petit vin blanc?” he asks.This is a daft question, because I always have chilled white and rosé in the fridge ready for callers. So there we are: Michel with his white wine and me with my tea – putting the world to rights at 8.15am! Michel told me that for health reasons (!) on matters of drink there is a certain etiquette to be observed by a real Frenchman:· 07.00 to 08.00 Café-Calva. (Coffee with a side shot of Calvados.)· 08.00 to 10.00 Chilled white wine.· 10.00 to 12.00 Chilled white, rosé or, if in a bar, kir.· 12.00 to 13.00 Pastis. · 13.00 to 15.00 Red wine with lunch. (White if eating fish or choucroute)· 15.00 to 18.00 Red wine. (or rosé at a push.)· 18.00 to 20.00 Pastis or Whisky.· 20.00 Onward. Red wine with dinner.· Late evening. A little Poire eau du vie as a digestif. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Floydmike Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 [quote]Well where we are (Mayenne 53) all our friends have Whiskey after 11am until about 1.30pm. Then coffee or beer, between 2pm - 5.30pm and after that it is whiskey all the way through!! Needless to sa...[/quote]You could also try Kir (Cassis and sparkling wine), Not wishing to sound pedantic, but this is one of the few areas of French life in which I have a little expertise. A Kir Royale should be made from Cassis with Champagne. A Kir should be made from Cassis and white burgundy, not sparkling wine. The sparkling wine and plonk white versions, which, personnally, I find perfectly acceptable at almost any time of the day, are economy versions of the real thing.Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Dick Smith Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Amen to that, Mike, Bourgogne Aligote and Crème de Cassis. The American Bartenders School tells its alumni to put in a twist of lemon, but that is simple barbarity beyond description.The Dutch owner of the Hôtel de la Poste in Mortain makes a Kir de Maison (Kir Orange) which has just a smidge of Cointreau in it, which is lovely (if you aren't driving) - very heady.We also have Kir Normande (Cassis + sparkling cider) but I've never tried it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Matelot Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 There's a few variations there I'd like to try! A French friend of mine was having heart problems and was told to stay off the white wine because it could 'excite' his ticker. Red wine was perfectly ok. (In fact, when he was in the clinic he was served a small carafe of red with his meals! Only in France, eh!) However, instead of having a kir as a pre-dinner tipple he would have cassis with red wine, which is apparently called a 'Cardinal'. Quite nice too.It's worth buying some of the good quality alcoholic syrups as well as cassis, i.e. Creme du Pêche, Poire, Framboise and Mûre (Blackberry). Then you can really offer guests a nice range of drinks."T'chin, t'chin!"Matelot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Alexis Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 A kir Breton is cider and cassis too.Do they serve cider in tea cups in Normandy? They do here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Diana Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 In our part of Normandy we have a Kir Normand, as you say Cidre and Cassis. I have only rarely seen cidre served in a cup in Normandy and that tends to be in real tourist spots like Mont St Michel. There are several potteries in the area who produce a stone glazed cidre jug and cups, again these seem to be for the tourist market. The first time I was served a cup of cidre I thought the measure to be very stingy but after the second cup I was glad they were not larger.Diana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Russethouse Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 I have a feeling the cups are called something like 'boule', you sometimes see little ones with some sort of pottery decanter or barrel for calvados or lambig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Miki Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 [quote]I have a feeling the cups are called something like 'boule', you sometimes see little ones with some sort of pottery decanter or barrel for calvados or lambig.[/quote]Close Gay, it is Bolle and I have seen Bol and Bolée used as well. As you say, they come in all styles but basically it is a cup but usually with a wider top. We tend to get a few each year through promotions by the cider companies. We have the Val de Rance factory almost on our doorstep, so we naturally stock their brand but also because the quality is always good and the range is quite varied. We usually take the 2% variety in the summer as I don't think there are many better thirst quenchers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Russethouse Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 We have a couple of them that we bought in a shop that sold all sorts of wonderful french kitchen items, sort of up the hill, 'intra muros' St Malo.Haven't used them for a while - reminded me to dig them out ! Wish that shop was nearer to me, I am looking for a little kitchen gadget my mother used to have , hand held it has spikes that go round in something that almost looks like a bean stringer. Hers was a Mouli, it chopped herbs. Perhaps they have been superseded now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Miki Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 [quote]We have a couple of them that we bought in a shop that sold all sorts of wonderful french kitchen items, sort of up the hill, 'intra muros' St Malo.Haven't used them for a while - reminded me to dig t...[/quote]If it was the one near to the big post office ? (just along from Lacoste and Aigle on the "main street") then unfortunately it closed recently and an upmarket toy shop is in there now.Was full of unusual and wonderful kitchen gadgetry but you may well be talking of another one that I am unaware of. I knew that one, simply because it was close to a bar and resto we use ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Please sign in to comment You will be able to leave a comment after signing in Sign In Now Share More sharing options... Followers 0
Floydmike Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 [quote]Well where we are (Mayenne 53) all our friends have Whiskey after 11am until about 1.30pm. Then coffee or beer, between 2pm - 5.30pm and after that it is whiskey all the way through!! Needless to sa...[/quote]You could also try Kir (Cassis and sparkling wine), Not wishing to sound pedantic, but this is one of the few areas of French life in which I have a little expertise. A Kir Royale should be made from Cassis with Champagne. A Kir should be made from Cassis and white burgundy, not sparkling wine. The sparkling wine and plonk white versions, which, personnally, I find perfectly acceptable at almost any time of the day, are economy versions of the real thing.Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Amen to that, Mike, Bourgogne Aligote and Crème de Cassis. The American Bartenders School tells its alumni to put in a twist of lemon, but that is simple barbarity beyond description.The Dutch owner of the Hôtel de la Poste in Mortain makes a Kir de Maison (Kir Orange) which has just a smidge of Cointreau in it, which is lovely (if you aren't driving) - very heady.We also have Kir Normande (Cassis + sparkling cider) but I've never tried it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matelot Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 There's a few variations there I'd like to try! A French friend of mine was having heart problems and was told to stay off the white wine because it could 'excite' his ticker. Red wine was perfectly ok. (In fact, when he was in the clinic he was served a small carafe of red with his meals! Only in France, eh!) However, instead of having a kir as a pre-dinner tipple he would have cassis with red wine, which is apparently called a 'Cardinal'. Quite nice too.It's worth buying some of the good quality alcoholic syrups as well as cassis, i.e. Creme du Pêche, Poire, Framboise and Mûre (Blackberry). Then you can really offer guests a nice range of drinks."T'chin, t'chin!"Matelot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 A kir Breton is cider and cassis too.Do they serve cider in tea cups in Normandy? They do here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 In our part of Normandy we have a Kir Normand, as you say Cidre and Cassis. I have only rarely seen cidre served in a cup in Normandy and that tends to be in real tourist spots like Mont St Michel. There are several potteries in the area who produce a stone glazed cidre jug and cups, again these seem to be for the tourist market. The first time I was served a cup of cidre I thought the measure to be very stingy but after the second cup I was glad they were not larger.Diana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 I have a feeling the cups are called something like 'boule', you sometimes see little ones with some sort of pottery decanter or barrel for calvados or lambig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 [quote]I have a feeling the cups are called something like 'boule', you sometimes see little ones with some sort of pottery decanter or barrel for calvados or lambig.[/quote]Close Gay, it is Bolle and I have seen Bol and Bolée used as well. As you say, they come in all styles but basically it is a cup but usually with a wider top. We tend to get a few each year through promotions by the cider companies. We have the Val de Rance factory almost on our doorstep, so we naturally stock their brand but also because the quality is always good and the range is quite varied. We usually take the 2% variety in the summer as I don't think there are many better thirst quenchers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 We have a couple of them that we bought in a shop that sold all sorts of wonderful french kitchen items, sort of up the hill, 'intra muros' St Malo.Haven't used them for a while - reminded me to dig them out ! Wish that shop was nearer to me, I am looking for a little kitchen gadget my mother used to have , hand held it has spikes that go round in something that almost looks like a bean stringer. Hers was a Mouli, it chopped herbs. Perhaps they have been superseded now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 [quote]We have a couple of them that we bought in a shop that sold all sorts of wonderful french kitchen items, sort of up the hill, 'intra muros' St Malo.Haven't used them for a while - reminded me to dig t...[/quote]If it was the one near to the big post office ? (just along from Lacoste and Aigle on the "main street") then unfortunately it closed recently and an upmarket toy shop is in there now.Was full of unusual and wonderful kitchen gadgetry but you may well be talking of another one that I am unaware of. I knew that one, simply because it was close to a bar and resto we use ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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