We here at Booze Nerds love our fruit brandy, and pear brandy (aged or not) is near the top of the list. We have two in the cabinet at the moment, one aged from Peach Street Distillers and one non-aged eau de vie from Clear Creek Distillery. Both are luscious and pear-y, but present quite differently alone and in cocktails. Here’s our take:

Nose:

• Clear Creek
  • Starts with the scent of slightly fermented fresh pears, followed by some unexpected but appealing maltiness. Baking spices on the finish, mainly hints of cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Peach Street
  • Fairly sharp, almost woody, not-quite-ready-to-eat pear to start. Followed by soft, more caramel-y cooked pear, then finishes with a nice toasty hazelnut.

Palate:

• Clear Creek
  • Green pear. More notes of the skin at the front, followed by nice, rich, slightly over-ripe (in a good way!) fresh pear flavor. Perfume-y on the back of the palate up into the sinuses. Very clean. All followed by a little bit of alcohol burn.
• Peach Street
  • Rich, buttery mouth feel. More fresh, slightly woody pear kick to start, followed by luscious cooked pear. Less of a bite at the end than the Clear Creek from the aging. Finishes with a slight hint of salty, umami notes.

Cocktails:

Bacall Cocktail – An original! This one is very rich and smoky, like Lauren Bacall’s voice 🙂

Retains the flavors of the Peach Street well. Sharp, fresh pear to start, then smoke and savoriness from the mezcal. Moves into a sweetness on the mid-palate, where the pear resurges, then segues into a spicy/bitter finish. Maintains the nice rich mouth feel from the base spirit.

• 2 oz aged Peach Street pear brandy
• ¾ oz Del Maguey mezcal (Chichicapa )
• ½ oz Punt e Mes
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir with ice, strain, garnish with a lemon twist.

Glittery Pear – Another original! 🙂 Bright, effervescent, perfect for a holiday starter.

Clean, fresh pear flavor at the front, then the floral sweetness of the St. Germain, followed by the crispness and acidity of the sparkling wine. Well-balanced and not too heavy. The lime isn’t strongly present, and mainly helps counter the St. Germain’s sweetness.

• 1 ½ oz Clear Creek pear eau de vie
• ¾ oz St. Germain
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 3 oz sparkling wine

Briefly shake all ingredients except sparkling wine with ice, and strain into a champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine.

We hope you’ll give these a whirl, and let us know what you think.