Browse Tag

czech republic

Bech & call

Jan Becker Becherovka (Czech Republic) – Texturally Chartreuse-like but aromatically more like a spice accident. Cinnamon, for certain, and I’m pretty sure about cloves, and there’s a supporting role played by anise. Sweet, but cut with some bitterness, it’s less akin to actual bitters than it is to the sort of herbal quasi-liqueurs found all over Europe but rarely far afield from their region of production. (This bottle, in fact, was smuggled back…though it seems that it’s legally available in the States these days.) Fun. (10/11)

Czechmate

[bottle]Czechvar Lager (Czech Republic) – I’m an ale partisan, and lager usually leaves me cold, but if I must have a lager, this is about as good as it gets; a fine, wet, thirst-quenching balance of light bitterness, light grain, and light alcohol. Thoroughly refreshing and absolutely pure. (5/08)