liqueur

Click to Play

How to Buy Orange Liqueur, Our Taste Test

Click to Play

Beach Bum Cocktail Recipe

Click to Play

What is Cass

Click to Play

How to Make an Orgasm Cocktail

View more Technology videos

For more information on liqueur, visit Britannica.com.

Distilled, flavoured, and sweetened alcoholic liquors, usually 20-40% alcohol, 20-30% sugar.

[lih-KYOOR; lih-KER] A sweetened spirit flavored with ingredients like seeds, fruits, herbs, flowers, nuts, spices, roots, leaves and barks. The base can be brandy, rum, whiskey or other spirit and may be flavored in four ways: distillation-alcohol and flavoring agents are blended before being distilled (see distillation); infusion- flavorings are steeped in hot water, which is then mixed with the alcohol base; maceration-flavoring agents are steeped directly in the alcohol base; percolation-alcohol is dripped through the flavoring agents to extract their essences. Proprietary liqueurs (such as bénédictine, galliano and southern comfort) are made exclusively by specific liqueur houses with secret formulas, some of which have been closely guarded for centuries. Generic liqueurs (like amaretto and crème de cacao) are made by various producers using fairly standard recipes. Quality brands are typically flavored with the finest ingredients, essential oils and extracts; less expensive examples often use artificial flavorings. Cream liqueurs are flavored mixtures that have been homogenized with cream. They have a rich mixture that's velvety smooth and creamy, and they require no refrigeration. Crème liqueurs (such as crème de menthe) are distinguished by being sweet and syrupy. Liqueurs range widely in alcohol content, generally from about 15 percent (for some irish cream liqueurs) to 55 percent (green chartreuse), although a few "baby liqueurs" like Kahlúa Mudslide contain only 6.5 percent alcohol. Although the word "liqueur" is common usage today, such potables are also called cordials and, less frequently, ratafias. Liqueurs were originally used (and some still are) as a digestive. They are now usually served after dinner but also play an important role in many cocktails. Liqueurs can also be used in cooking, particularly for desserts. See also absinthe; advocaat; anesone; anisette; chéri-suisse; cointreau; crème d'abricots; crème d'amande; crème d'ananas; crème de banane; crème de cassis; crème de cerise; crème de noyaux; crème de rose; crème de violette; curaçao; drambuie; eau de vie; frangelico; glayva; goldwasser; grand marnier; herbsaint; irish mist; izarra; kahlúa; kümmel; mandarine liqueur; maraschino; midori; ouzo; pernod; prunelle; rock and rye; sabra liqueur; sambuca; sloe gin; strega; tía maría; triple sec.

• Beverages
• Drinking Terms - liqueur: usu. flavored, sweet, thick alcoholic liquor
• Liqueurs and Cordials - liqueur: usu. flavored, sweet, thick, alcoholic liquor

Not to be confused with Distilled beverage or Liquor.

Kumquat liqueurs from Corfu

A liqueur (US /lɪˈkʊr/ or UK /lɪˈkjʊər/) is an alcoholic beverage made from distilled alcohol that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.

In the United States, where spirits are often called "liquor", there is often confusion over liqueurs and liquors, especially as many spirits today are available in flavored form (e.g. flavored vodka). The most reliable rule of thumb is that liqueurs are quite sweet and often syrupy in consistency, while liquors are not.

In parts of the United States, liqueurs may also be called cordials or schnapps,^[1][2][3][4] while in large parts of the British Commonwealth, cordial means a concentrated non-alcoholic fruit syrup that is diluted to taste and consumed as a non-carbonated soft drink, and in Germany and Scandinavia, schnapps means a form of brandy or aquavit.

Most liqueurs have a lower alcohol content (15%-30% ABV) than spirits, but some contain as much as 55% ABV.

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

History

Liqueurs are historical descendants of herbal medicines; they were made in Italy as early as the 13th century and were often prepared by monks (e.g. Chartreuse and Bénédictine).

Nowadays, liqueurs are made worldwide and are served in many ways: by themselves, poured over ice, with coffee, mixed with cream or other mixers to create cocktails, etc. They are often served with or after a dessert. Liqueurs are also used in cooking.

Some liqueurs are prepared by infusing certain woods, fruits, or flowers, in either water or alcohol, and adding sugar or other items. Others are distilled from aromatic or flavoring agents. Anise liqueurs have the interesting property of turning from transparent to cloudy when added to water: the oil of anise remains in solution in the presence of a high concentration of alcohol, but crystallizes when the alcohol concentration is reduced; this is known as the ouzo effect.

Layered drinks are made by floating different-colored liqueurs in separate layers. Each liqueur is poured slowly into a glass over the back of a spoon or down a glass rod, so that the liquids of different densities remain unmixed, creating a striped effect.

The word liqueur comes from the Latin liquifacere ("to liquefy").

• Liqueurs
• 

  Bottles of homemade strawberry liqueur

• 

  Herbal liqueur produced in Austria and bottled at 38% ABV

• 

  Chartreuse is a French liqueur made by the Carthusian Monks since the 1740s.

See also

Drink portal

• Cordial
• Cream liqueur
• Crème liqueur
• Dessert wine
• Fortified wine
• List of liqueurs
• Nalewka
• Sloe gin

References

1. ^ What are Schnapps and Cordials? Retrieved 2012-05-28
2. ^ Lichine, Alexis (1987). Alexis Lichine's New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits (5th ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 198. ISBN 0-394-56262-3. 
3. ^ New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. 2010. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-19-539288-3.  cordial: "another term for liqueur"
4. ^ "The Cook's Thesaurus". http://www.foodsubs.com/Liqueurs.html. Retrieved October 11, 2010. 

External links

Look up liqueur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Liqueurs

• Liqueurs – The Cook's Thesaurus

v t e Alcoholic beverages   History and production History of alcohol History of alcohol History of beer History of Champagne History of wine History of French wine History of Rioja wine Production Brewing Distilling Winemaking   Alcoholic beverages Fermented beverage Beer (types) Wine (types) Cider (category) Mead (category) Rice wine (category) Other fermented beverages Distilled beverage Brandy (category) Gin (category) Horilka (category) Liqueur (category) Rum (category) Tequila (category) Vodka (category) Whisky (category) Fortified wine (category) Madeira wine (category) Marsala wine Port wine Sherry (category) Vermouth (category)   Distilled beverages by ingredients Grain Barley Irish whiskey Japanese whisky Scotch whisky Maize Bourbon whiskey Corn whiskey Tennessee whiskey Rice Awamori Cheongju Rice baijiu Soju Rye Rye whiskey Sorghum Baijiu (Kaoliang) Multiple grains American whiskey Canadian whisky Fruit Apple Applejack Calvados Cashew apple Fenny Coconut Arrack Grape Arak Armagnac Brandy Cognac Pisco Plum Slivovitz Ţuică Pomace Chacha Grappa Marc Orujo Tsikoudia Tsipouro Zivania Various/other fruit Eau de vie Kirschwasser Nalewka Pálinka Rakia Schnaps Other Agave Mezcal Tequila Sugarcane/molasses Aguardiente Arak Cachaça Clairin Guaro Rum Seco Herrerano Tharra Various cereals and potato Akvavit Baijiu Horilka Poitín Shōchū Vodka   Liqueurs and infused distilled beverages by ingredients Almond Amaretto Crème de Noyaux Anise Absinthe Arak Ouzo Pastis Raki Sambuca Chocolate Chocolate liqueur Cinnamon Tentura Cloudberry Lakka Coconut Malibu Coffee Kahlua Tia Maria Egg Advocaat Hazelnut Frangelico Herbs Aquavit Bénédictine Brennivín Crème de menthe Metaxa Minttu Honey Bärenjäger Drambuie Glayva Krupnik Juniper Gin Jenever Orange Campari Curaçao Triple sec Peppers Pertsivka Star anise Sassolino Sugarcane/molasses Charanda Various/other fruit Crème de banane Crème de cassis Limoncello Schnapps Sloe gin Alcoholic beverages category Drinking establishment Drink Portal Beer Portal Beer WikiProject Spirits WikiProject Wine Portal Wine WikiProject

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - likør

Nederlands (Dutch)
likeur

Français (French)
n. - liqueur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Likör

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ηδύποτο, λικέρ

Italiano (Italian)
liquore

Português (Portuguese)
n. - licor (m)

Русский (Russian)
ликер

Español (Spanish)
n. - licor

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - likör

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
利口酒

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 利口酒

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 리큐르(달고 향기로운 독한 알콜 음료)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - リキュール

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شراب مسكر معطر وعادة محلى‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮משקה אלכוהולי חזק ומתוק, ליקר‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.