What to do with the drinks you bring back from holiday

I participated in an amusing discussion on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour yesterday about what to do with the weird and wonderful drinks we bring back from holiday which always seem to end up languishing at the back of a cupboard. Discussing the subject in the waiting room before the show one guest on the programme told me he’d recently discovered some 40 year old bottles in his mother’s house, some of which were incredibly still drinkable (I was impressed that he’d worked his way through them). Another remembered bringing back some unspeakable drink in an elephant shaped bottle.

The main problem is that it’s hard to recreate the heady, holiday atmosphere in which you enjoyed them. But if you follow a few basic rules you shouldn’t find yourself with a dud on your hands:

• Rule no 1: Don’t buy a bottle of a drink you’ve never heard of however amusing the bottle shape or ravishingly pretty the label.

• Rule no 2. Unless you have an absolute passion for them, avoid aniseed-flavoured drinks like pastis, ouzo or raki or strange herb-flavoured liqueurs like Jagermeister or Gentiane. Most people, I've found, heartily dislike them.
  

• Rule no 3. Once you’ve opened your bottle drink it up, even if you have to throw a slightly kitsch get-together for your friends for the purpose. Many drinks, especially liqueurs under 30% ABV, lose their flavour after a couple of months.

Set against that there are two good reasons to bring back some interesting booze namely that it’s invariably cheaper than the prices we have to pay in heavily taxed Britain and that there’s a much wider selection in local supermarkets and airport shops. Here’s what to look out for:

• French aperitifs like Suze, Byrrh, St Raphael and - my latest discovery, Guignolet, a delicious cherry flavoured liqueur, are all incredibly good value in French supermarkets and make an authentic start to a bistro-style meal.

• Rums from the French Caribbean (Martinique and Guadaloupe) are also a good buy in France - much cheaper than the big brands

• Limoncello - available in the UK (from Carluccio’s) but much cheaper in Italy. An intensely flavoured lemon liqueur that’s delicious to drink on its own or which makes a great addition to lemon-flavoured desserts such as ice creams, sorbets and even lemon meringue pie

• Ponche Cabellero - A splendid Spanish orange-flavoured liqueur in a flashy silver bottle. Poor man’s Grand Marnier.

• Akvavit - Along with lager, the classic Scandinavian accompaniment to open sandwiches (smorgasbord or smorrebrod, depending on whether you’re in Sweden or Denmark). My favourite is a fantastic dill-flavoured one called Aalborg Jubilaeums.

• Grappa - Not the firewater it’s reputed to be, provided you look out for the more carefully made, artisanal examples. One to bring out at the end of an Italian meal.

• Oddball whiskies. I brought my son Will (who I hasten to say is now 30) a bottle of Colorado whisky back from Denver last year. You don’t find that in many people’s drinks cabinets

• Poire William (pear flavoured white spirit) or other fruit flavoured eaux de vie or schnapps. A good buy if you’re in Alsace or Germany. Poire William is wonderful with pecorino or other sheep’s cheese.

• Frangelico. Yes, the bottle (which is shaped like a monk) is totally naff but it’s a great addition to chocolate flavoured cakes, desserts and drinks.