Lillet

Lillet occupies that slightly magical drinks category where people assume it’s either impossibly sophisticated or something their grandparents drank before lunch. In reality, it’s both simpler and more useful than that.

Produced in Podensac, just south of Bordeaux, Lillet has been around since the late 1800s, blending regional wines with citrus liqueurs and quinine-based aromatics to create one of France’s classic aperitifs. The Blanc version remains the best known, though Rouge and Rosé have developed proper followings too, especially once bartenders rediscovered cocktails older than Instagram.

The appeal of Lillet is that it manages bitterness, fruit and freshness without overdoing any of them. Lillet Blanc brings orange peel, honey, flowers and gentle herbal bitterness, while Rouge leans softer and darker with red berries and spice underneath. Served cold over ice with a slice of citrus, it suddenly becomes obvious why the French are so committed to aperitif culture. It’s refreshing without tasting simplistic.

Cocktail people love it because it plays well with pretty much everything. Gin, tonic, sparkling wine, vodka, citrus, all covered. The Vesper Martini helped make Lillet internationally famous, though honestly it’s arguably nicer not being shaken aggressively by somebody introducing themselves as “mixologist-in-residence”.

There’s also something reassuringly old-fashioned about the whole thing. Bordeaux wine at its core, proper cellar ageing, recipes that haven’t been reinvented every six months for marketing purposes. Just a quietly elegant aperitif that’s survived because it works.