Patxaran
Encyclopedia
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
from baso aran "wild plum
Plum
A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...
") is a sloe-flavoured liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
commonly drunk in Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
, the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
and elsewhere in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It is usually served as a digestif either chilled or on ice.
Process
Patxaran is made by soaking sloe berries, collected from the blackthornBlackthorn
Prunus spinosa is a species of Prunus native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America....
shrub, along with a few coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
beans and a vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
pod in anisette
Anisette
Anisette is an anise-flavored liqueur that is consumed mainly in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. It is colorless and, unlike some other anise-based liqueurs, contains no licorice.True anisette is produced by means of distilling aniseed...
. The process produces a light sweet reddish-brown liquid around 25-30% in alcohol content by volume. In addition to dictating the amount of sloe to be used, the regulating body for Pacharán Navarro insists that no colourings or flavourings be added and that the maceration last between one and eight months.
History
Known to have existed in Navarre as early as the Middle Ages, Patxaran was initially a home-made liqueur of rural Navarre and became popular during the late 19th century. It was commercialised in the 1950s and then became very popular outside Navarre. One theory for this rise holds that young Navarrese took bottles with them while on National ServiceNational service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, thereby popularising Patxaran throughout Spain. Currently, there are moves to ensure that the drink's name will be protected in order to ensure its quality, tradition and Navarrese identity.
Commercial brands and production
First sold in 1956, the oldest commercial brand is Zoco, founded by the family of Ambrosio Velasco, who had been producing patxaran in the VianaViana, Spain
Viana is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. Cesare Borgia is buried there. Francisco Gonzalez de Ibarra, a missionary active in Southern California between 1820 and 1840 was a native of Viana, born there in 1782.**...
area since 1816. This brand is now owned by Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...
. Other brands include Etxeko, Kantxa, Barañano Atxa and Baines.
Seven million litres a year are commercially produced.