I do have an ABC store two minutes away but if I drive three more minutes, I can go to this…read morelocation. The one closer to me is fine, but it is a bit of an older store.
That being said, this one always has French pastis in stock & on the shelf; Pastis is similar to Italian Sambuca or Greek Ouzo but not quite the same, lol. Sambuca is made from elderberries, Ouzo is made from distilled grapes & aniseed, & Pastis is made from anise, star anise & fennel.
The store only has Pernod, which we do like, but you can special order Ricard, which is mine & my French hubs preference; they are from the same company & are both anise-flavored spirits that have their roots in absinthe, but they taste different enough from each other. Pernod is the closet to Absinthe & the company, Pernod-Ricard does, in fact, make real absinthe as well. Look up the history, it's actually an interesting story of how Pastis came about. But I digress, lol.
Pastis is an anise-flavored apéritif, or apéro as the French call it, & it is a digestif (aides in digestions). It is typically drank before a meal & served over a couple ice cubes & diluted with water so that it becomes beautifully cloudy & almost a golden, iridescent yellow.
Pernod is made from distillates of star anisé (on of my fave spices), fennel, & 14 other botanicals such as coriander, mint, chamomile, & Veronica to name a few. Pernod has a low licorice content which sets it apart from Ricard, which has a more pronounced licorice flavor
I must say the staff here is super friendly & the female manager is the best; she always has a big smile on her face.
FYI ~ if you want liquor in VA you must purchase it from the ABC store aka Alcohol & Beverage Control Authority.
