Country of origin: Italy
Alcohol content: 18% ABV

A popular French aperitif, Picon Bière Apéritif à l'Orange is designed for mixing with beer to bring flavour and complexity. Although made in France for most of its history, the Picon brand was acquired by Campari Group in 2022 and is now produced in Italy. The process for Picon starts with both fresh and dried orange peels macerated in neutral spirit. The orange macerate is then distilled and infused with botanicals including bitter gentian root and cinchona bark. Finally, sugar and caramel are added to bring sweetness and colour.

A balance of bitter orange, rich caramel, and herbal characteristics with an integrated bitterness coming from gentian and cinchona.

Picon Bière is classically paired and mixed with the farmhouse “saison” style beers of northern France. Mix in a one to five ratio, or to taste with a beer of your choice—French or Belgian styles of white ale or lager preferred—finishing with the aromatic oil from a squeeze of lemon peel.

About Picon:

While posted in Algeria with the French Army in 1837, Gaëtan Picon created a liqueur to be drunk as an antimalarial and named it "Amer Africain". After moving from Philippeville (modern day Skikda) to Marseille in 1872, Gaëtan renamed his successful liqueur "Amer Picon". Amer Picon grew in popularity with multiple distilleries operating to meet the demand of a thirsty public who drank it in cocktails, mixed with beer, or simply neat. The company's slogan in 1937 reflected the wide reach of their aperitif: "There is no longer a part of the globe that Picon has not penetrated." In the late 20th century Amer Picon split into three bottlings: Picon Amer, Picon Bière, and Picon Club.