Creme de Cassis de Dijon, Edmond Briottet

Crème de Cassis, as is well known, is made with blackcurrants and is the most popular of all the fruit crèmes. Dijon in Burgundy is its real home as it is to the producer of this one, the renowned Maison Briottet. It's made using the Noir de Bourgogne variety which is macerated for ten weeks in a water and alcohol solution which is the best way of extracting maximum flavour from the berries. It's finished off with the addition of a judicious amount of French white sugar to achieve the right balance of sweetness and has wonderfully rich aromas and generous ripe blackcurrant character. Naturally, it makes the ideal base for a Kir, or Kir Royale and it's also got several other uses in cooking, cocktails, or simply poured over desserts.

Edmond Briottet was originally established as a negociant in 1836, but by around 1900 production of fruit crèmes, liqueurs, brandies and marc de Bourgogne had taken centre stage for them and so they moved away from the wine business to concentrate solely on these products. Currently heading up the business is Gérard Briottet, the fourth generation of the family, and he's focussed on maintaining the traditions of his great grandfather Edmond Briottet which shows in their excellent range of drinks.