Highballs and long drinks · Other
Pour cold water into pastis and it clouds instantly, then the strawberry syrup turns it a milky pink. Anise, liquorice and ripe berry make a surprisingly harmonious apéritif for a warm terrace.
¾ oz
pastise.g. Ricard · Pernod · Pastis 51 · Henri Bardouin
¼ oz
strawberry syrup
4¼ oz
water still, well chilled
Garnish: None · Ice: Ice cubes
Rourou
Sweet and fruity with strawberry up front and cool anise and liquorice behind. Light, long and refreshing.
The Rourou belongs to a small family of pastis drinks from the cafés of southern France, where the anise apéritif is traditionally lengthened with about five parts cold water. Adding a spoon of flavoured syrup gives each drink its own name: with mint syrup it is a Perroquet, with grenadine a Tomate, with orgeat a Mauresque, and with strawberry syrup a Rourou.
These names are café slang and have no documented inventor. They reflect the relaxed apéritif culture of Provence and Marseille, where pastis has been an everyday drink since the 1930s, when Paul Ricard launched his brand in Marseille. The milky clouding, called the louche, happens because the anise oils come out of solution when water is added.
The anise oils dissolve in alcohol but not in water. When you add water they form tiny droplets that scatter light, known as the louche.
A Rourou uses strawberry syrup, a Tomate uses grenadine. Both are pastis with water.
Quite light, as the pastis is lengthened with about five parts water.
The perfect sound
A shaded courtyard with desert spice.
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