Food This article is more than 21 years old

Down in one

This article is more than 21 years old Dubonnet

"Dubo. Dubon. Dubonnet." This famous French radio advertising slogan - which roughly translates as "It looks good (du beau: geddit?). It tastes good..." - made Dubonnet the in drink of the 1940s and 1950s. I remember drinking it with bitter lemon in the 1960s and thinking I was really cool.

First produced in 1846, Dubonnet is an aperitif based on red wine grapes from Roussillon infused with a surprisingly exotic selection of herbs and spices, including orange rind, cinnamon, green coffee beans and quinine, which is extracted from the bark of the Peruvian cinchona tree. It's sweet-ish (probably why I liked it), though the quinine adds a bitter note.

Try a Ron Habanero Dubonnet Helado, from Charles H Baker Jr's South American Gentleman's Companion, which I found on an appealingly quirky jazz, Latin and cocktail website, mrlucky.com: put 2oz rum, 1oz Dubonnet, 1 tsp lime juice, 1 tsp grenadine and 2 tsp maraschino liqueur or kirsch in a blender and whizz with ice.

Apparently, Dubonnet, not gin, was the Queen Mum's favourite tipple. Time for a revival. Price: £6.99. Available everywhere.

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