Liqueurs

"Allspice Dram is common in tiki drinks. From Jamaica, and also known as Pimiento Dram. Obviously, a lot of allspice berries up front. Clove, cinnamon, nutmeg. Adds a nice spice quality when you don't want something as assertive as bitters. Adds fall/Christmas flavors, and works in tropical drinks as well."

Ancho Reyes

Slightly pungent, followed by dried chile notes, spices,
cinnamon, cocoa, tamarind, and wet wood with light
herbal notes adding to the complexity

"Becherovka [bay-ker-AWV-kuh] has been around a long time. It's a Czech liqueur, commonly taken very cold in Prague. Works well in winter and in holiday cocktails. Mixes well with bourbon. Has a lot of Christmas spice character to it: allspice, clove, cinnamon. Definitely a great call to offer to someone as a shot. Obviously we don't carry Rumple Minz or things of that nature, and Becherovka is a great call for that, as opposed to mixing shots."

"Coole Swan is kind of like Bailey's, it's a Scottish Cream liqueur. I think it's better than Bailey's, because it's not as cloyingly sweet."

"Benedictine is the oldest spirit still produced [1510]. A lot of highland or Alpine spices, and it's a brandy-based liqueur. By mixing it half-and-half, you get a B&B, which a lot of people like as an after dinner drink.

Adds a nice spice component to a lot of classics; the Vieux Carre is a good example. It has a little bit of dried orange peel, so it works well with Curaçao. Whereas other spice-based liqueurs don't mix as well with Curaçao because they don't have a citrus quality on the back end.  It works well with gin and whiskey alike, even rum. Notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and clove."

"Cherry Heering is essentially a cherry brandy. You'll find it in classics like the Singapore Sling and the Blood and Sand."

"Tempus Fugit Creme de Cacao, higher quality than the Bols Creme de Cacao. Obviously a chopped cocoa nib quality, so essentially a cocoa liqueur without the sweetness. Pure chocolate, not sweetened or milk chocolate. Great in dessert drinks such as the Twentieth Century. Some people drink it neat as an after dinner drink, in a snifter, but personally, I prefer it with a little brandy or cognac."

"Creme de Cassis is a blackcurrant liqueur. Basically tastes like black cherries. One of the most popular uses would be the classic El Diablo."

"Creme De Mûre. Blackberry. This is Combier's Creme de Mûre blackberry liqueur. I love mixing this with mint and bourbon to make a kind of Bramble. Makes a great Bramble on its own.

"Being that Combier makes it, it's made with the utmost quality and care. Not syrupy; it's got a clean blackberry flavor. Unlike a lot of blackberry liqueurs that are kind of dingy, the blackberry really shines through in this one. I like it use it in a Mint Julep and in one of my cocktails, a Southern Gentleman, which contains high-proof bourbon, Creme de Mûre, Branca Menta, fresh mint, and fresh blackberries."

"Creme de Violette only reemerged on the market about six years ago, It's actually made from violets, so very floral. Usually used in small quantities. One of the reasons it came back was the Aviation cocktail. Even though you only use a small amount, the cocktail won't be the same without.

"'Creme' is basically a way to define a cordial, just an interchangeable word for cordial or liqueur. Generally, the French use it, with 'Creme de' describing a spirit that is a one-note liqueur (Cacao, Cassis, Violette).  Whereas other types of liqueurs will have other things added to them."

"Dimmi is a light-bodied Italian liqueur. Notes of licorice would be the most prominent. I personally think it tastes a little like lipstick. Maybe candy. Works pretty well in a smash or a spritz style. Like D'Aristi Xtabentun, can be used in place of Galliano, since it's a little lighter and less syrupy."

"Domaine de Canton is a French cordial ginger liqueur. The original intent was to be used as a base spirit in a cocktail. It's not so assertive that that doesn't work, but it's best complementing agave spirits or even whiskey. Very universal. Adds a nice spice character to cocktails."

"Drambuie is one of the only Scotch-based liqueurs on the market. I say one of the only because I think they have recently come out with something else. Notes of honey, heather, orange peel. Goes in a Rusty Nail. From Broxburn, Scotland."

"A common misconception is that Grenadine is cherry syrup. Actually, 'Grenadine' - the word itself - means 'pomegranate' in Spanish. Should be made from fresh pomegranate juice, at best. We use POM, which is fine, as it's 100% pomegranate juice with no additives.

"What we do is, we cook it in a pot with sugar, vanilla bean scrapings, and cardamom until it thickens up to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Once that cools down, we add brandy, in our case Metaxa 5yr, which acts as a preservative, in addition to giving it a nice floral quality."

"Kahlua. A coffee liqueur. Thick and syrupy. One of the main ingredients in a White Russian, You can also find it in a Mexican Coffee or a Colorado Bulldog."

Krogstad Aquavit is made in Oregon, though most Aquavit is from Scandinavia. It's made a lot like gin - usually starts out as a neutral grain spirit, which is then infused through distillation - with, instead of the juniper for gin, more caraway and dill. Aquavit means water of life. It's essentially a precursor to vodka.

Scandinavians were taught distilling by Irish monks. The Scandinavian grain spirit would come out real strong, so to flavor that, they would use whatever was at hand, which was mostly dill, caraway, things like that.

Krogstad is like a Swedish or Danish style, in that it's not aged. The Norwegians tend to age their Aquavit, like the Linie. The way Linie ages it is pretty unique - they put it in barrels on a ship, and it has to cross the Equator and come back.  The idea is that the sloshing of the barrels tends to give more contact. with the wood. There are other companies like Jefferson Bourbon that have picked this up, racking their bourbon.

"Licor 43 is a Spanish liqueur. Huge sales in Europe, where it's taken on its own. Maybe they'll add some soda. We tend to use it in mixed drinks; regrettably, the Key Lime Pie shot is a perfect example. It's heavy on lime and cinnamon, among other spices."

"It's another Maraschino liqueur, meaning it's made from the pits of the Marasca cherries. An alternative to Luxardo; Leopold is just an American product trying to replicate that. Luxardo, in my opinion, is the gold standard, always has been and probably always will be. Luxardo is less syrupy, not quite as sweet. It's the original, so it seems like everything is based around it. You can sub other Maraschinos, but they don't quite work."

"Luxardo Maraschino is from a family of the same name originally in Croatia, where the Marasca cherry orchards are located. The base of operations burned down during WWI, and they were forced to move to Northern Italy. To say that it's a cherry brandy or cherry liqueur is not accurate, since it's made from the pits and everything."

"Nux Alpina is made from walnuts. Traditionally served in the Alps; they basically steep green walnuts for months in their spirit, a base of grapes that's kind of like a brandy. Then, before the very end, they add a few herbs and spices. I like it in small quantities, like a rinse. You've seen it in our Aegean Fix, and I like to add it to a classic called the Elk's Own, with egg white, port wine, rye whiskey and lemon juice. It's great for adding a little nuttiness and spice. Sometimes, it's one of those things you can add a barspoon of to a drink and fix it, when you're in trouble with a recipe."

"Orgeat is traditionally drank in - you'll see it a lot in Morocco and Lebanon, they'll drink it at weddings, mixed with a little water. It's an almond syrup, nonalcoholic, so I'll put it in mocktails sometimes for kids. We use it for the Mai Tai - it works great with rum. You'll find it in a fair amount of tiki drinks.

"People make this on their own a lot; we use the BG Reynolds. Kinda got revived when the soda jerks were doing their things back in the day, but Orgeat actually dates back hundreds of years."

"Pimm's No. 1 is from a family of infused spirits. Pimm's No. 1 is made with gin; they also have ones made with vodka and rum. They take gin and just infuse a little further. It's a spicy alternative to gin. Works well, obviously, as a Pimm's cup."

"Rothman & Winter is an old style of an apricot liqueur. More dry. Very strong, realistic apricot flavor. It's better mixed; I like it in a rendition of a  Brown Derby I like to make, adding it to honey, bourbon, and grapefruit. Mixes well with gin, and could also be used in rum cocktails. Adds a nice stone fruit character to your tiki drink.

"It's made from a specific type of apricots in Austria, the Klosterneuburger, in a two-step process. They make the apricot liqueur first, and then they infuse it with fresh apricots during the harvest season."

"Sambuca is a lot like Ouzo. It's a high proof, anise-forward spirit with notes of raw chocolate and cocoa. Usually taken before or after a meal, and served with one or three coffee beans. Three meaning love, wealth, and health in the traditional meaning of it."






 


"St. Germain is an elderflower liqueur. From France; reportedly made with handpicked elderflowers by happy little Frenchmen on bicycles. I don't believe that for a moment. Long been regarded as "bartender's ketchup" because it works with almost everything. Obviously there's the French 77, the Southside...there's a lot. Works especially well with tart and intense flavors, as well as fizzes and bubbles. Women seem to love it."

"Velvet Falernum is a liqueur from the Northwest Indies. Can be made non-alcoholic. We use John D. Taylor's. Clove, lime, notes of cinnamon and allspice. Very light hint of vanilla. Usual applications include a lot of tiki drinks, like the Corn and Oil."