parfait amour (“perfect love”) is a traditional liqueur of French origin dating to the eighteenth century. Although largely forgotten by the middle of the twentieth century, parfait amour was popular between the First and Second World Wars. It was rediscovered thanks to the mixology movement in the 1990s. With its complex taste and beautiful purple color, parfait amour is found in cocktail recipes such as the Jupiter Cocktail and the Blue Paradise. A few French and Dutch liqueur producers such as Marie Brizard and Bols include one in their portfolio.
Originally, parfait amour was simply a “cédra(t) rouge”—a citron-flavored liqueur colored red with cochineal. Eventually, it became a melting pot of different flavors, and by 1900 the color had become not red but purple. While the ingredients vary from one manufacturer to another, in general the flavor is obtained from maceration or infusion of fruits, bark, spices, and flowers in alcohol of agricultural origin. These include citron, of course, but also some combination of coriander seeds, cinnamon, orange and lemon peels, and vanilla, and sometimes even violets, raspberries, rose petals, anise, geraniums, almonds, and other botanicals, all of which meld to create a unified combination of floral and spicy notes on the palate. Like any liqueur, parfait amour must have a minimum sugar content of 100 grams per liter with more than 15 percent alcohol. Parfait amour is usually sold at 24–30 percent alcohol.
See also abv; Bols; crème de violette; France; and liqueurs.
Déjean, Antoine. Traité raisoné de la distillation. Paris: 1753.
Herstein, Karl M., and Morris B. Jacobs. Chemistry and Technology of Wines and Liquors, 2nd ed. New York: Van Nostrand, 1948.
By: Alexandre Gabriel