Ricard : the taste of beautiful days
The steady drone of cicadas, the scent of garrigue carried on the mistral, a glass of Ricard topped up with ice-cold water resting on the table. The afternoon burns away languidly, facing a sun-scorched boulodrome.
The Marseille tale begins in the 1930s. Paul Ricard, 21, freshly graduated from the Beaux-Arts, makes the rounds of the city’s bistros to present the wines and spirits distributed by his father’s company. The pastis, at that time—already highly prized by local café owners—are weighed down with sugar and artificial flavourings. Since 1922, the amount of anise essence permitted in aperitifs has been sharply limited, dulling their taste. The ambitious young man wants to create his own brand. In his makeshift laboratory, he tirelessly searches for the formula of the aniseed potion with which he will quench his peers. He macerates Provençal herbs, liquorice, anise essence and fennel seeds, in pursuit of a more authentic flavour.
His many trials—guided by feedback from his future customers—and the liberalisation of aniseed drinks lead, in 1932, to the creation of Ricard: “Le vrai Pastis de Marseille” (“The true Pastis from Marseille”). The recipe for the world’s most popular aniseed spirit has been kept secret for more than 80 years. Its logo, drawn by the young man himself, can be spotted from miles away: the six letters of his surname, sun-yellow, floating on a Mediterranean-blue background.
« No gain without pain »
Electrified by the immediate success of his drink (364,000 bottles sold in the Phocean city in its first year) and already driven by his motto, “nul bien sans peine” (“no gain without pain”), Paul Ricard now wants to upend the entire ritual of drinking his pastis. In 1935, he sketches the outlines of the iconic water carafe used to lengthen Ricard de Marseille. One measure of Ricard to five of water, the recommendation goes. Some like it shorter; others dilute it with a few extra splashes. A marketing genius, Paul Ricard floods cafés with branded goodies in his colours: ashtrays, glasses, jugs and other free promotional accessories for maximum visibility. Some of these items, now collectors’ pieces, are displayed in a museum on the island of Bendor—a jewel off Bandol, acquired by Paul Ricard in the 1950s—where certain members of the family still live.
Although Paul Ricard passed away in 1997, the eponymous drink is more present than ever. Of the 80 million litres of pastis sold each year in France, nearly half are Ricard (a taste that remains distinctly French, since we consume 90% of the category).
