Advocaat

About Advocaat
Wikipedia Article About Advocaat on Wikipedia

Advocaat is a rich and creamy Dutch liqueur made from a blend of egg yolks, aromatic spirits, sugar, brandy, and vanilla. It has a smooth, somewhat bland taste, and contains 15% alcohol (proof 30).

The drink's origins are with Dutch settlers in South America. There, they mixed a thick beverage using the whipped flesh of avocados. When they attempted to duplicate the drink in Holland, egg yolk was substituted for the exotic fruit. The name advocaat is derived from Dutch words for the avocado fruit.

There are two varieties of advocaat. "Thick" advocaat is sold mostly on the Dutch market and often eaten with a spoon, while a more liquid version is sold as an export. Thick advocaat contains egg white, and is used as an ingredient for several kinds of desserts such as ice cream or pastries. It is also served as an apéritif or digestif. The traditional way to serve it is in a wide glass with whipped cream and cocoa powder sprinkled on top.

In the export variety only the pure egg yolks are used, making it particularly suited for cocktails and long drinks. The best known cocktail using advocaat is the Snowball: a mixture of advocaat and sparkling lemonade.

Famous makers of advocaat include Warners, Bols, Warninks and De Kuyper.