Picon Punch, or simply Picon, is a highball cocktail made with an Amaro liqueur, soda water, grenadine, a splash of lemon, and a bit of brandy floating on top. The drink is identified as

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

, but was created by Basque immigrants in the U.S. and taken back to the Basque region in the Pyrenees. It is popular in Basque restaurants and bars in the western USA, particularly

southern Idaho Southern Idaho is a generic geographical term roughly analogous with the areas of the U.S. state of Idaho located in the Mountain Time Zone The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Unive ...

, northern and

central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California (which includes Los Angeles and San Diego) and south of Northern California (which includes San Francisco and San Jose, ...

, and northern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. In 2025, a bill was proposed and later approved by the

Nevada State Legislature The Nevada Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, consisting of the Nevada Assembly (lower house with 42 members) and the Nevada Senate (upper house with 21 members). With a total of 63 seats, the Legislat ...

designating Picon Punch the official state cocktail. The traditional liqueur used ( Amer Picon) is made in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, and is not readily available in the United States. As a result most bars use a substitute liquor; the most popular is Torani Amer. In 2024, there were shortages of Torani Amer resulting from supply chain interruptions from the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

and a production change, which required recertification by California authorities. During this time, there were shortages in Nevada with several bars and restaurants unable to make Picon Punch or using a different substitute liquor. Rumors appeared about the long term viability of the drink as Torani downplayed the liquor to focus on their flavored syrup business. In 2025, Torani transferred the recipe for Torani Amer to Ferino Distillery in Reno, NV. In Northern Nevada, the Picon Punch is served with ice in a custom stemmed glass produced by the Louie Picon Glass Company of Sparks. In other regions, the drink is made in a

highball A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver ...

Collins glass In American English, a collins glass is a glass tumbler which typically contains . It is commonly used to serve sparkling cocktails, especially long drinks like the Tom Collins or John Collins, as well as fruit juice, water or any cold drinks. ...

filled with ice. At the J.T. Basque Bar and Dining Room in Gardnerville, it is served in a short 4 oz. glass.

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External links

* * * * {{cite web, url=http://www.chezus.com/2010/12/30/basque-picon-cocktail, title=Basque Picon Cocktail, work=chezus.com Cocktails with liqueur

See also

References

Further reading

External links