A piece by L. Pierce Caron in the Napa Valley Register appeared on 31 December, 2010 - about a new Bolivian drink. These coca leaf licours are something else, I had them at the consulate in NY - not this exact brand though.

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At this time of the year, you’d expect to find a piece extolling the virtues of this sparkling wine or that Champagne, right?

Well, I’m not gonna do it this year. I found something else that might contribute to the merriment of ringing out the Old Year as the clock strikes midnight. After all, it’s New Year’s Eve.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a public relations firm eager to have me sample a liqueur with origins in Bolivia that is being promoted in various U.S. markets. My interest was piqued when she referred to it as “the original and only coca leaf liqueur.”

Well, I had to give that a try, so we arranged for a tasting with a few people in the hospitality trade, including chefs and others from the front-of-the-house and bar teams at a local restaurant.

First of all, the facts. Agwa de is a 60 proof (30 percent alcohol) herbal liqueur made with coca leaves and 32 other herbs and botanicals that adheres fully to the rules and regulations of the authorities both within the EU and U.S., and has been sold in this country, the UK and more than 25 other countries for more than a decade.

Since first showing up in bars and liquor stores a couple of years ago on the Left Coast, Agwa de Bolivia has built a reputation as a mystery liquor that’s intoxicating, yet somehow energizing, too. It’s not the tastiest thing to drink straight, but seems to mix well with almost anything. It’s being hailed as “the new absinthe” by some hipsters, “the new Jägermeister” by party animals and being touted as everything from an alleged booster of sexual prowess to a substitute for illegal drugs.

The coca leaf was an important crop in the Andes of Bolivia. The Andean culture and the coca plant have thrived for centuries. And coca leaves even made an inroad into American culture in the 19th century.

In 1886, John Pemberton, of Atlanta, Ga., introduced a tonic called Coca-Cola which contained cocaine. Cocaine was removed from Coca Cola in 1904; however decocainised coca leaves are still used. Spirits and wines that contained cocaine were finally banned in the United Stages in 1912, with officials noting that cocaine is an extremely dangerous narcotic with significant health hazards.

It’s ironic that this same plant that is used as a curative and everyday stimulant in its homeland is the source of so much abuse and misunderstanding in many parts of the world.

In checking with an Agwa de Bolivia company rep, I was informed that “the finest handpicked wild Bolivian coca leaves are shipped to Amsterdam under armed guard where they are first de-cocainised before being infused with alcohol and 36 other natural herbs and botanicals to enable the maximum effect.”

Based on a 200-year-old recipe, Agwa de Bolivia is handcrafted in Amsterdam.

The company offers any number of drink recipes, including one that neither I nor the assembled tasters wanted to drink — mixing Agwa de Bolivia coca leaf liqueur with an energy drink, such as Red Bull. They call this drink a Short Fuse, served as an Agwa Bomb. A Long Fuse is a tall glass of the liqueur and energy drink with 2 lime wedges on the rocks.

To make an Amsterdam martini, add the liqueur, vodka and lime wedges, squeezed, to a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain the liquid into a chilled martini glass, garnished with a slice of lime.

For a Chica Bomba, make a mojito with Agwa de Bolivia and add a splash of rum.

Popular with a young bar crowd, the Bolivian Kiss is “the ultimate Agwa ritual — bite the wedge of a lime, down a shot of chilled Agwa de Bolivia, now feel the buzz...”

Locally, all but one of our tasters the other evening picked a very simple drink as the favorite. That one person preferred the Agwa-made mojito to the drink the rest of us preferred.

Our favorite was a glass of crushed ice, squeezing in the juice of a couple of lime wedges and then topping all with a generous pour of Agwa de Bolivia. It was chilled and refreshing, the lime giving the herbal flavor quite a boost on the palate. That’s all there is to it — crushed ice, freshly squeezed lime juice and the coca leaf liqueur. The manufacturer has a name for the drink (one of the words is “madre”), but it’s not a term used in polite company, let alone in print. That’s why we gave you the formula.

Cost of Agwa de Bolivia is somewhere between $30 and $32.