Definition: Liqueurs

Drinks made by mixing alcohol, sugar, essences, extracts or flavourings. There is a wide variety of liqueurs, but they can be divided into fruit liqueurs, liqueurs flavoured with extracts of essences or spirits, and those made from blends and mixtures. Fruit liqueurs are made immediately after harvesting. The fruit is left to macerate in alcohol for several months and the juice is then extracted. The process is repeated until the fruit has released its full aroma. Blending different juices of varying concentrations produces blackcurrant, cherry, strawberry and raspberry liqueurs. Fruit liqueurs generally have an alcohol content of between 16% and 30%; they can be kept for around a year, after which they lose much of their quality. Most liqueurs made from herbs, certain fruits (hazelnuts, cocoa, sloes, flowers, oranges, etc.), peel or stones are produced using a base liqueur consisting of spirits, essences and extracts. The base liqueur is then mixed with alcohol and sugar in proportions that best bring out the flavour of the resulting composition. This is how mint, aniseed, mandarin, curaçao and coffee liqueurs are made, as well as Clacquesin, Cointreau, Malibu, apricot and parfait amour. The different elements that make up a liqueur are sometimes mistelles, distillates or macerations, and the combination of all these ingredients can be quite complex. The resulting liqueurs – Grande Chartreuse, Izarra, gentian – are very similar to the ancient elixirs made by monks.