Liqueurs - Eatoutzone

LIQUEUR and CORDIAL

A liqueur is a sweet alcoholic beverage, often flavoured with fruits, herbs, spices, flowers, seeds, roots, plants, barks, and sometimes cream. The word liqueur comes from the Latin word liquifacere which means "to dissolve." This refers to the dissolving of the flavourings used to make the liqueur. Liqueurs are not usually aged for long periods of time, but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry. In some parts of the world people use the words cordial and liqueur interchangeably.

HOME MADE LIQUEUR - STRAW BERRY

Though in these places the two expressions both describe liquors made by redistilling spirits with aromatic flavorings and are usually highly sweetened, there are some differences. While liqueurs are usually flavored with herbs, cordials are generally prepared with fruit pulp or juices. Nearly all liqueurs are quite sweet, with a highly concentrated, dessert-like flavour.

Liqueurs date back centuries and are historical descendants of herbal medicines, often those prepared by monks, as Chartreuse or Benedictine. Liqueurs were made in Italy as early as the 13th century.

Today liqueurs are made worldwide and can be enjoyed many different ways, including by themselves, poured over ice, with coffee, and mixed with cream or other mixers to create cocktails. They are often served with or as a dessert. Liqueurs may also be 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 flavouring agents. The distinction between liqueur and spirits (sometimes liquors) is not simple, especially since many spirits are available in a flavoured form today. Flavored spirits, however, are not prepared by infusion. Alcohol content is not a distinctive feature. At 15 to 30%, most

A VARIETY OF BRANDED LIQUEURS

liqueurs have a lower alcohol content than spirits, but some liqueurs have an alcohol content as high as 55%. Dessert wine, on the other hand, may taste like a liqueur, but contains no additional flavouring.

There are many categories of liqueurs including: fruit liqueur, cream liqueur, coffee liqueur, chocolate liqueur, schnapps liqueur, brandy liqueur, anise liqueur, nut flavoured liqueur, and herbal liqueur.

Anise liqueurs have the interesting property of turning from translucent to cloudy when diluted: the oil of anise remains in solution when in the presence of a high concentration of alcohol, but crystallizes out of the solution when the alcohol concentration is reduced by dilution.

Floating liqueurs is a technique often used by bartenders to impress their customers. This is done by "floating" a measure of the desired liqueur in a glass by pouring it slowly over an inverted spoon or down a glass rod. This creates a rainbow effect in a glass when using different colored cordials.

CORDIAL
A cordial is an extremely sweet (when undiluted) non-alcoholic fruit flavoured drink concentrate that is diluted with water to taste. Some of the more well-known cordials are Cottees and Golden Circle branded cordials. Cordial is most popular in Australia and New Zealand, having a large market share in competition with fruit juices and soft drinks.

A cordial is any invigorating and stimulating preparation; as, a peppermint cordial. The term derives from obsolete medical usage, as various beverages were concocted which were believed to be beneficial to one's health, especially for the heart (cordialis, Latin).

Alcoholic cordials are also known as liqueurs. A cordial is also a type of candy, in which a fruit filling is placed within a chocolate shell. A well known confectionery of this type is the cherry cordial.