We all have a favourite drink when it comes to alcohol.
I love wine, while my flatmate George is a Southern Comfort man, and my friend Hayley is a Tequila girl.
But then, along came a girl named Mandy, and with her came her favourite tipple: Chambord.
When I used to watch Mandy pouring one alcoholic drink into another alcoholic drink to make it taste better, it just didn't make sense to me.
Why bother drinking the alcoholic drink at all if you don't like it, I used to ask myself.
She would mix the black raspberry liqueur with champagne, because she didn't like the taste of champagne on its own.
Then she would sometimes mix vodka with a bit of Chambord for others, in an attempt to make them appreciate the liqueur, as much as she did.
I refused to try it because her obsession with it was starting to annoy me; Chambord this, Chambord that - I was waiting for her to start using the liqueur in jelly shots or perhaps even as syrup on pancakes.
But then one day, she tricked me into drinking champagne mixed with Chambord, by claiming that there was raspberry cordial in it. I secretly became hooked.
I started to understand why she liked the liqueur which is made of raspberries, blackberries, Madagascar vanilla, Moroccan citrus peel, honey, cognac and herbs and spices, creating an all-natural black raspberry liqueur.
I also started to understand why, once upon a time, in the 17th century, it had been a liqueur, suited for kings.
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Its spherical glass body, wrapped in gold plated letters around the middle with a crown acting as the bottle cap proudly displays its historical royal connection.
Chambord was inspired by a raspberry liqueur produced in the Loire Valley of France during the late 17th Century where, while visiting the Chateau de Chambord, Louis XIV was given the liqueur with dinner - and that is where Chambord got its name.
Unfortunately back then, there was no having fun with Chambord by mixing it with other drinks, but that's OK, because I had the pleasure of having the fun for King Louis XIV.
Instead of doing the usual things like lemonade and Chambord, which Mandy loves, I decided to taste the recipes specially created for the 2010 L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF), which Chambord is an official product partner of.
The first drink on the menu: Chambord Lime and Soda, which consisted of 30ml of Chambord with Soda water garnished with two lemon wedges.
I wasn't keen on trying it, as I've tried lime and soda with other spirits such as vodka and was never a big fan, mainly because I don't like the taste of soda. I convinced myself it was going to taste disguisting. I was proven wrong - it was very tasty and refreshing, and definitely a summer drink. The sweetness of Chambord added a nice refreshing flavour and the soda water started to taste like a soft drink instead of carbonated water while the lemon added a nice soft tang to it all.
The next drink was my favourite, French Martini. Who doesn't like martinis? With 15ml of Chambord, 45ml of Finlandia Vodka and 30ml pineapple juice with a pineapple garnish, I created the French Martini and I couldn't stop making more and more.
The pineapple juice gave the martini a tangy twist with a light frothy texture.
After drinking a 'few' delicious martinis and realising that I was having far too much fun with the froth moustaches from them, I realised there was no way for me to keep tasting the drinks and keeping an objective mind, so I decided to leave it up to you, our readers, to do the rest of the tasting for me by trying the rest of the official LMFF Chambord recipes and tell us what you think.
I know, how dare I make you do all the 'hard' work...
1. Chambord Fruit Cup
45ml Chambord, 1 lemon wedge, 1 lime wedge, 1 orange wedge, 2 sliced of cucumber, 1 diced strawberry, 4 mint leaves and a dry ginger ale to top in a highball glass.
Squeeze and drop citrus wedges into highball glass, add the rest of fruit and Chambord, fill with ice, top with dry ginger ale and stir. Garnish with a mint sprig and cucumber slice.
2. Chambord No.5
30ml Chambord, 30ml Finlandia Cranberry Vodka, 60ml cranberry juice, 15ml fresh lime juice, 15ml sugar syrup and the pulp of 1 passionfruit in a tumbler glass.
Shake on ice and strain into an ice filled tumbler and garnish with a mint leaf.
3. Dark Knight
30ml Chambord, 30ml Tawny Port and 6 mint leaves in a cocktail glass garnished with mint leaf.
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into cocktail glass.
4. Chamble
15ml Chambord (to crown), 45ml premium gin, 15ml fresh lemon juice and 15ml sugar syrup in a tumbler glass and garnish with lemon wedge and raspberry.
Shake all ingredients except Chambord with ice, strain into a crushed ice filled tumbler and crown with Chambord.
5. Chambord No.6
30ml Chambord, 30ml Gentleman Jack, 60ml apple juice, 15ml honey, 15ml lemon juice and 1 cm slice of cucumber in a cocktail class with a slice of cucumber to garnish.
Muddle cucumber with honey and lemon. Add the rest of the ingredients, shake and fine strain into a cocktail glass.
6. French Meringue
60ml Chambord, 30ml fresh lemon juice, 15ml sugar syrup (1:1) and 1/2 egg white in a wine glass with a lemon wedge to garnish.
Dry shake and strain.