Picon Bière — A measure of bitter orange amer in the bottom of a cold beer, as northern France drinks it

Picon Bière

A measure of bitter orange amer in the bottom of a cold beer, as northern France drinks it

Number of people

Ingredients

  • 7 ozLager
    A crisp pilsner or kölsch, very cold, poured onto the amer
    Substitute: A blonde ale
  • 1 3/4 ozAmer Picon
    Into the empty glass before the beer
    Substitute: Another bitter orange amer, though none taste quite like it

Instructions

  1. Pour 1 3/4 oz Amer Picon into the bottom of a cold beer glass

    Both the amer and the beer want to be properly cold before they meet

  2. Pour 7 oz cold lager slowly onto the amer so it mixes as it fills
  3. Garnish with an orange wheel

Technique Notes

Amer in the glass first, beer poured onto it. The reverse leaves a sweet layer sitting on the bottom that never mixes, and the whole point is that the beer arrives already bitter-orange.

Why the Picon Bière Works

Beer and bitter orange is an older idea than most cocktails, and it works because lager brings carbonation and almost no flavour of its own to argue with. A hoppy beer ruins it, since hop bitterness and gentian bitterness stack rather than balance.