Dubonnet

Dubonnet poster

Dubonnet is a sweet, wine-based aperitif. It is a blend of fortified wine, herbs, and spices (including a small amount of quinine),^[1] with fermentation being stopped by the addition of alcohol.

Dubonnet was first sold in 1846 by Joseph Dubonnet, in response to a competition run by the French Government to find a way of persuading French Foreign Legionnaires in North Africa to drink quinine.^[1] Quinine combats malaria but is very bitter.

The brand-name Dubonnet was taken over by Pernod Ricard in 1976. It was re-popularised in late 1970s by an advertising campaign starring Pia Zadora. It is available in Rouge, Blanc and Gold (vanilla and orange) varieties. Dubonnet is also widely known by the advertisement slogan of the French graphic designer Cassandre "Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet", which still can be found on walls of houses in France. Dubonnet is commonly mixed with lemonade or bitter lemon, and forms part of many cocktails. Reputedly it is a favourite beverage of:

• Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who liked gin and Dubonnet: 30% gin, 70% Dubonnet with a slice of lemon under the ice. She once noted before a trip, "...I think that I will take two small bottles of Dubonnet and gin with me this morning, in case it is needed..."^[2][3]
• Queen Elizabeth II, who also likes a Dubonnet and gin before lunch every day.^[4]
• Hetty Wainthropp (self-made private investigator) of the BBC series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.
• Katie Morosky (played by Barbra Streisand) who drank "Dubonnet over ice" in the movie The Way We Were (1973).^[5]
• In the movie Tootsie The main character as Dorothy Micheals orders a "Dubonnet with a twist" while dining at The Russian Tea Room.

Dubonnet has been said to be similar to Buckfast Tonic Wine.^[6]

Cocktails

The following include Dubonnet as one of their ingredients:

See also

• Gin and tonic, another drink invented to encourage European colonial soldiers in tropical climates to take quinine.

References

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