Kummel - often called "the gentleman's liqueur" - makes an ideal Father's Day present.

It is an after-dinner drink that was first created in Latvia in the 15th Century by merchants who soaked caraway seeds in vodka for eight to 10 days before distilling the pungent liquor.

It is, in effect, double distilled which makes it especially pure and gentle on the stomach.

My maternal grandfather was particularly fond of a glass on a Sunday afternoon. The scent of caraway seeds on his breath led my grandmother to believe that he had been at her delicious seed cake, but my sister and I knew better! For a special treat the old boy would soak sugar lumps in his glass and feed them to us.

The earliest records of commercial production show that by 1575, Dutchman, Lucas Bols, was distilling the drink in Amsterdam. Perhaps he used as his base the same raw spirit in which he macerated juniper berries, orange peel and other botanicals to make gin. Bols is still very much in business today producing vast ranges of alcohol and liqueurs.

We do know that when Peter the Great of Russia went to Amsterdam in 1696, to learn about shipbuilding, he visited the Bols distillery and took some back with him.

Among the most aristocratic of the Kummels that you can buy today are those produced by Mentzendorff, a London wine shipper part-owned by Bollinger champagne.

However, its Kummel no longer comes from Riga, or even Amsterdam. It is produced in a distillery founded in 1809 by Jean-Baptisite Combier near the banks of the river Loire, in France. Here, just beyond Saumur, a small team spend their days macerating caraway seeds in brandy as well as making Triple-Sec liqueur from Haitian oranges and other delectable alcohol based drinks.

The French call these after-dinner drinks Digestifs, a name that implies that they aid digestion. While the sweeter orange-based liqueurs just delight our tastebuds there is no doubt that the caraway seeds in Kummel can help relax our stomachs after a long, rich meal.

You'll find Mentzendorff Kummel at Upton-upon-Severn Wines for £13.60 for a 50cl bottle.

Another well-known brand, Wolfschmidtt, is stocked by Oddbins and Worcester Wines at around £17 for a similar sized bottle.