Amer Picon

Also known as “Picon Amer Black Label”,“Amer Picon Black Label”,“Picon”,“Picon Amer”. Proprietary French bitter-sweet spirit-based aperitif beverage bitters with a defining-but-not-dominating orange character. Notable in the Basque drink, Picon Punch, which is considered one of the finest examples of a highball beverage. Unfortunately, from the 1970s to present, the House of Picon has lowered the proof of their product repeatedly, creating a situation where traditional recipes calling for it (such as the Picon Punch which was created with the original 78 proof product in mind) did not taste the same. Picon's current iteration has an alcohol content of less than half of the original product. Also, the product has trifurcated into three distinct products: Picon Amer, Picon Bière and Picon Club. The latter two are even lower ABV formulations intended for mixing with wheat beer and wine, respectively. “Bittersweet orange-flavored amer in the style of Amer Picon” is generic for a rich orange-flavored gentian/quinine aperitif/digestif liqueur exemplified (and originated with) Amer Picon. In Alsace, these liqueurs are traditionally added to beer (mainly lagers) as an amer biére.