The Patxaran Also Rises
The good people of Navarra, i.e., the region bordering northern Spain’s Basque Country, have given the world more than just the annual spectacle of drunken men being gored in the ass at Pamplona. No, the Navarre have also given the world Patxaran (pronounced paht-chah-RAHN).
Patxaran is a sweet, fruity, aromatic digestif produced by macerating sloe berries in anis (i.e., Spain’s version of Ouzo or Anisette). It has a fruity yet licoricey flavor and is quite sweet. It is also, in my humble-yet-warped opinion, Spain’s prettiest liquor. It has a deep, reddish, purplish hue that I would love to see painted onto a Corvette in my driveway.
Patxaran is drank cold here in Spain. Most bars serve it on the rocks, but it obviously tastes best when the bottle itself is chilled and the drink is free of the diluting effects of ice cubes melting under the blazing Iberian sun.
I decided to do a bit of Internet surfing in order to expand my knowledge of this noble drink because, with gasoline at $6 per gallon in Spain, I sure as hell wasn’t going to drive to Navarra.
Aside from a bunch of silly nonsense about Patxaran being served at the wedding of King Carlos III’s son in the year 1415, a fact that I cannot verify because the King didn’t send me an invitation, I did stumble upon one very relevant fact: Patxaran’s sweet flavor makes it hard to stop at one glass, yet excessive consumption can lead to a nasty hangover.
Silly me. I thought that was true of all liquor.
But a Patxaran hangover is far more dangerous than those of other liquors. Why? Because it isn?t limited to a throbbing headache and nauseous stomach. No…a Patxaran hangover can also (and often) includes a 40 centimeter-deep horn wound in the buttocks.
