Cristal 100 is produced by Cristal Limiñana, a family company from Marseille, where mainly drinks based on anise are made. At the end of the 19th century there was a major economic crisis in Spain, as a result of which many Spaniards had to flee their country and started looking for work elsewhere. The brothers Pascual and Manuel Limiñana went to Algeria where they started working in a cousin’s bar.
They called the bar ‘La Paloma’, after an aniseed drink from their native country. The brothers quickly started to make an anised drink themselves and named it ‘Cristal Anis’. The son of Pascual Limiñana, Manuel Jr., later took over the company. Manuel Jr. was crazy about petanque and sponsored numerous tournaments in Algeria, but also in southern France. There he founded the Cristal Limiñana factory in Marseille in 1962. It is still there today. Characteristic of the brand Cristal Limiñana are the hexagonal bottles.
What is Cristal 100?
Cristal 100 is an aperitif made from aniseed. The drink does not contain dyes, sweeteners and of course no alcohol. Cristal 100 is not drunk purely, but must be diluted with three to five parts of water. Cristal 100 does not contain licorice extracts. That is probably also the reason that the drink is really milky white and not light beige like other non-alcoholic aniseed drinks like Pacific from Pernod Ricard for example.
Just like other aniseed drinks, the best way to serve Cristal 100 is in a big glass, filled with ice cubes. Ideally you start with a ratio of one part Cristal 100 and three parts water. When the ice cubes melt, there is automatically some extra water added to your mixture. You can also add a bottle or a jug with fresh water so that you can add extra water if desired.
How does it taste?
The taste of Cristal 100 is really good. The Anise flavor is very strong, especially when you use a ratio of one to three. Due to the absence of licorice, the drink is slightly less sweet and therefore drier than other aniseed drinks on the market. Because of this, Cristal 100 is very easy to drink. This ensures that you can drink this throughout the day, ideal if you have a little trouble to drink your daily needed amount of tasteless water.
Like the other aniseed non-alcoholic aperitifs, this Cristal 100 barely contains calories (less than 2 kcal per 100 ml.). So you can effectively drink a whole day without having to worry about extra kilos. You can also drink Cristal 100 with spray water, we did not really think this was a success. The drink is refreshing enough by itself, the extra carbon makes it too overwhelming.
Where to get it?
More information about Cristal 100 can be found here on their website. On the website you can also order it at the price of € 3.5 for a bottle of a liter. This is peanuts when you know that with one liter you make at least four liters of aperitif. Orders on the website can only be delivered in France. We are waiting for a list of selling points and will publish it here when we receive it.
