Since it's Halloween season, I thought I'd do another pumpkin-flavored alcoholic beverage. I think I've more than covered pumpkin beers over the years (see my post on October 31st, 2023 for the most comprehensive post about them), so this year I'll discuss a cream liqueur with pumpkin flavoring. Specifically, the one made by the Pennsylvania Dutch brand, out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The ultimate story of the maker of this blog post topic goes back to 1884. A French immigrant, Charles Jacquin, began a business that made cordials. If you're curious, "cordials" seem synonymous with "liqueurs"--they're both alcoholic drinks made from spirits (a base liquor) flavored with spices, or herbs, or fruit, or sugar, or some combination of these. The resulting beverages are often after dinner, or dessert drinks, also known as digestifs. Anyway, Charles Jacquin et Cie, Inc., did well, and weathered the Prohibition years (1920-33) by manufacturing non-alcoholic cordials. The move to the current Philadelphia location occurred in 1933. In 1937 the first importation of a foreign beverage was started, with the French drink Forbidden Fruit. By the 1950's, Jacquin's was producing over 40 kinds of cordials and liqueurs. In the 1990's the firm began the Pennsylvania Dutch line, with their egg nog being the flagship offering. Currently, and since 2020, the CEO of the company is a 3rd generation family member, John A. Cooper. The label on my bottle notes that the producer is Dairyland Distillers, Co., but this is a subsidiary of Charles Jacquin et Cie, Inc. Also, the company is itself a subsidiary of Chatam International, Inc. And aside from Pennsylvania Dutch, some of the other brands under the Jacquin umbrella include Forge Vodka, Roasted Daughter, Irish Manor, and Rock & Rye. Alternate cream liqueurs from the Pennsylvania Dutch brand include chocolate cream, salted caramel, egg nog, peaches & cream, strawberries & cream, peppermint bark, lemon cream pie, and American bourbon cream. As far as how it's consumed, some people drink their cream liqueurs straight, some have it over ice, some mix it into cocktails, and some bake it into desserts. Finally, Charles Jacquin et Cie, Inc. obviously focuses on manufacturing and distributing alcoholic beverages, with one exception--they import and sell French jams and jellies made by the St. Dalfour Gourmet French brand.
Pennsylvania Dutch Pumpkin Spice Cream Liqueur: This drink had a light orange color, and a slightly spicy odor. I had mine straight, after chilling it for a while. The taste was like egg nog with pumpkin spice in it, or like advocaat (see my post on July 30, 2022 for more on that drink) with pumpkin spice in it. Since I like both of those other drinks, and pumpkin spices in general, this was a compliment. It was good. Creamy as billed. A nice odd take on an alcoholic drink. I'd recommend it to those who like egg nog, advocaat, and also like pumpkin spiced things. It also hid its alcohol content pretty well too--it's 14.75%, but went down easier than I would have expected. Looking back, on October 23, 2021 I tried another pumpkin spice liqueur, from Bols, and I think this one was a bit better than the Bols one.
As a preview for what's ahead for this month, I hope everyone likes horror movie trivia quizzes. Because that's what in store for the next two posts. Enjoy!
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