My most favourite liqueur is Peachtree produced by De Kuyper. This clear liqueur made from sun-ripened peaches is fantastic and this is the reason why it figures heavily in my recipes. The unprecedented success of Peachtree was obvious at its launch in 1987 when 1.000.000 bottles were sold in less than a year. To this day many prodcers try to further emulate this success. But Peachtree is the one and only true product, hence the official name of Original Peachtree. A very big advantage of this liqueur is its clarity,
which means that its use will not influence the colour of the final creation. Also the
taste is truly sublime, with a well-rounded peach taste and characteristic lingering aftertaste.

A clear liqueur based on the lychee fruit bottled in a characteristic pink bottle. I prefer to use this lightly perfumed liqueur in combination with other slightly sweeter liqueurs. The specific property of this liqueur is that it seems slightly dry without a heavy alcohol level (20%). As in for example my creation "Diamond" the balance of the dry Kwai Feh, Peachtree and a dash of Crème de Bananas make a perfect pre dinner cocktail. There is a nice anecdote about this liqueur, a Chinese, emperor of the Ming Dynasty was told that one of his mistresses experienced a pleasant warm feeling in her lower tummy from eating fresh lychees, with the result that this emperor put out an order to produce a liqueur based on this fruit, this anecdote is to be found on the front of the bottle. I often use this delicious liqueur for my female guests, you never can tel.!!!!!

Amaretto is one of my favourite liqueurs from the De Kuyper range of at least 28 different flavours. This is the reason why this fantastic liqueur is to be found in many of my creations, if not for the fact of this fragrance, which is very important factor. I have tasted the many amaretti to be found for tast and amaretto is the best. His fragrance has for example a fantastic overtone of macaroons, and is not so sweet as all the other amaretti, with a powerful alcoholic sensation as afthertaste so that a heavy alcohol base need not be used. Also the colour is neutral.

There are a lot of curacaos on the market of various qualities, when I was in Curacao a
couple of years ago I tasted the local liqueurs and there is a vast difference in the levels
of taste and fragrance. By comparison the De Kuyper is extremely temperamental with
a definite aftertaste of cardamom, which is the characteristic of the de Kuypers curacao. This makes it very suitable for mixing with sweeter liqueurs. Often the colour of a cocktail is ignored, but to my mind this is a very important factor. Namely the Red Curacao has such a high level of colour concentration as to make it a tool in obtaining a nice colour, I dare to state that you can use 30% less than other products in order to achieve the same colour consistency. The De Kuyper curacaos are available in White,Green,Blue and my favourite the Red. I have won the National championships four times using this powerful liqueur.

More information about De Kuyper

One of my other favourites is Grand Marnier. This Worldwide renowned cognac based orange liqueur, whose rich history and tradition dates back to 1827. Monsieur Marnier developed this divine liqueur, later a partnership developed with Monsieur La Postolle. And the firm                             was born. Since those first days the recipe blend of exotic oranges and choice cognacs from the Grande Petite Champagne has not changed. The firm still maintaines its many traditions, as I was privileged to experience personally when I recently visted the village of                                  still the site of production

Marnier Lapostolle

To this day the dried orange peel is imported in bales from Haiti,                            a magnificent castle in the heart of the Charente region supplies the cognac, and the famous red ribbons with theire wax seal on the bottle are still hand crafted. After distillation and the mixing of the cognac the Grand Marnier Rouge is slowly matured in oak before bottling, producing a fantastic liqueur of character

Neauphle-Le-Chateau

Chateau de Bourg

bottling, producing a fantastic liqueur of character Neauphle-Le-ChateauChateau de Bourgsuited to use in cocktails, think of a combination of Grand Marnier Rouge and the tasty Peachtree enhanced with a tropical fruit juice. You can't beat Grand Marnier Rouge with ice on a summers'day.

One step up is the Cuvee du Centenaire (1827-1927) a delicious extremely suitable as an after dinner drink, having the same manner of production as the Marnier Rouge, with the exception that only the finest               cognacs are used. No wonder that the result is a genuinely enjoyable, super smooth liqueur. In my opinion this liqueur was justly honoured with the Gold Medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London 1983.        

25 years

But the ultimate level of excellence is the Cuvee Cent Cinquantenaire, which uses               cognacs from the Grande Champagne. The firm Marnier-Laposrolle produced this master-piece in 1977 in honour of their 150 year anniversary. The first production was numbered
and now forms a real collectors item. The frosted bottle richly
decorated with grape-vines is a replica of a dacanting bottle from
Marnier-Lapostolles' privat collection, and is a jewel on any after
dinnertrolley. At the Salon des Arts Meneger in Brussels 1983 the

50 years

Cuvee Cent Cinquantenaire was rightfully honoured with the Gold Medal. This tip-top after dinner is my personal favourite, especially if I can enjoy it in, in my opinion.