Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits: Innovative Flavor Combinations, Plus Homemade Versions of Kahlúa, Cointreau, and Other Popular Liqueurs (3 page)

• Cynar
  (artichoke)
  
• Rhubarb
  (rhubarb)
  

• Absinthe
  (anise, fennel, hyssop, peppermint, wormwood leaves)
  
• Anisette
  (anise seed)
  
• Bénédictine
  (Cognac flavored with 27 herbs)
  
• Chartreuse
  (flavored with 130 herbs)
  
• Galliano
  (star anise, mint, ginger)
  
• Goldwasser
  (a blend of roots and herbs with flakes of 23-karat gold)
  
• Herbsaint
  (absinthe)
  
• Izarra
  (yellow, made from 32 herbs and almonds, and mint-flavored green, made from 48 herbs)
  
• Jägermeister
  (made from 56 herbs)
  
• Ouzo
  (star anise, coriander, clove, cinnamon)
  
• Pastis
  (anise, licorice)
  
• Pernod
  (anise, fennel, melissa, wormwood leaves)
  
• Ricard
  (anise, licorice, star anise)
  
• Sambuca
  (anise, star anise, licorice, elderflower)
  
• Strega
  (made from 70 herbs, including saffron and fennel)
  

• Amaretto
  (almond flavored, usually from the pits of stone fruits like apricots, peaches, and cherries)
  
• Frangelico
  (hazelnut)
  
• Kahana Royale
  (macadamia)
  
• Nocello
  (walnuts and hazelnuts)
  
• Nocino and Vin de Noix
  (unripe green walnuts)
  
• Praline
  (pecan)
  

Many blended herb liqueurs contain flower blossoms, but a few are made exclusively from flowers.

• Crème de rose
  
• Crème de violette
  (violet)
  
• Fior D’Alpe
  (mixed wild flowers)
  
• Hypnotiq Harmonie
  
• Lavande
  (lavender)
  
• Rosolio
  (rose)
  
• Shan Hibiscus
  (hibiscus and coconut)
  
• St-Germain
  (elderflower)
  
• Xaica
  (hibiscus)
  
• Xtabentún
  (from the Yucatán, made from honey from the nectar of morning glory blossoms)
  

• Afrikoko
  (chocolate and coconut)
  
• Ashanti Gold
  (dark chocolate)
  
• Chéri Suisse
  (chocolate and cherry)
  
• Kahlúa
  (dark coffee)
  
• Kona Gold
  (Kona coffee)
  
• Mozart Amadé
  (dark chocolate with blood orange)
  
• Sheridan’s
  (split bottle with dark coffee and milk chocolate)
  
• Tia Maria
  (Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee)
  
• Vandermint
  (mint chocolate)
  

• Baileys Irish Cream
  (Irish whiskey and cream)
  
• Amarula
  (caramel and marula fruit)
  
• Advocaat
  (egg and vanilla)
  
• Dulce de Leche
  (caramel and cream)
  
• Mozart Gold Chocolate Cream
  (chocolate and cream)
  
• Voyant Chai Cream
  (chai, vanilla, cream)
  

• Brandymel
  
• Bruadar
  (Scotch, honey, sloe berries)
  
• Eblana
  (coffee, honey)
  
• Stag’s Breath
  (single-malt Speyside Scotch, fermented honey)
  
• Yukon Jack
  (honey)
  
• Rock & Rye
  (caramelized rock sugar)
  
• Drambuie
  (honey and herbs)
  
• Wild Turkey
  (bourbon and honey)
  

All liqueurs are composed of just three components: liquor (distilled spirits), flavoring, and sugar. Liquor is distilled from fermented fluids, either wine (fermented sugary liquids such as fruit juice, sugarcane juice, or elderflower juice) or beer (starchy mashes such as barley mash, rice mash, or mashed potatoes). Since alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water — 173°F (78°C) compared to 212°F (100°C) — when wine or beer are heated, more alcohol than water turns into vapor.

Liquor is made by capturing that vapor and cooling it until it returns to a liquid state. The resulting spirit has a higher alcohol content than the original beer or wine, and because aromatic chemicals are also highly volatile, it has a more concentrated flavor as well.

The art of distillation is ancient. Mesopotamians were capturing the scents of aromatic plants through distillation more than 5,000 years ago. Written documents suggest that the earliest distilled alcoholic beverages were made by the Chinese, who concentrated alcohol from fermented grain about 2,000 years ago. By the tenth century, privileged Chinese were drinking distilled alcohols, and by the thirteenth century, spirits were being sold commercially.

By 1100 alcohol distilled from wine had a reputation as a valuable medicine in Italy, and throughout Europe alchemists viewed distilled alcohol as a powerful quintessence or vaporous “fifth element” that in addition to the four basic elements (earth, water, air, and fire) made up the world.

A medieval still for making aqua vitae

In the early fourteenth century, the Valencian alchemist and physician Arnaldus de Villanova, in his medical book on wine, Liber de Vinis (the first mass-printed wine book), dubbed the essence of wine aqua vitae, or “water of life.” The term has given name to most distilled spirits, including Scandinavian aquavit and French eau-de-vie. In English, “whiskey” is the anglicized version of the Gaelic beatha, “water of life.” Even the term “spirit” identifies alcohol as the soul of fermentation.

Spirits distilled from wine have different characteristics from those distilled from beer. Fruit-based spirits are divided between brandy (made from grapes) and fruit alcohol (made from other fruits). Grain-based spirits are divided among single-malt whiskey (made from malted barley), whiskey and gin (made from grain and malted barley), bourbon (made from corn and malted barley plus a regulated amount of other grain), and vodka (usually made from grain, but also from potato or other starches). Rum is distilled from fermented molasses or sugarcane, and tequila and mescal are distilled from fermented agave.

The following are the liquors most commonly used as bases for concocting liqueurs.

Brandies are distilled from grape wine. The two most prestigious are Cognac and Armagnac, the first named for a town north of Bordeaux in southwest France and the second for a region south of Bordeaux. Both are made from Trebbiano grapes, which are used to make more wine than any other grape in the world. Trebbiano grapes produce fresh, fruity, undistinguished wines that do not age well, but because of their fruitiness and high acidity, retain full flavor throughout distillation.

Cognac
is double distilled with the lees still in the juice. Lees are the sediment of dead yeast that falls to the bottom of the tank after fermentation. They are quite pungent and give Cognac a savory, yeasty quality that balances the sweetness of the grape. Cognac is usually distilled to an alcohol content of 70 percent.

Armagnac
is single distilled without lees to about 55 percent alcohol. The shorter fermentation time preserves more of the fruit’s volatile acids, which makes Armagnac rougher and more assertive than Cognac.

By law, both Armagnac and Cognac are aged in new French oak barrels for flavor; the oak flavors dissipate as a barrel is used for a minimum of six months, but most brandies are aged for at least two years. The best Armagnac is aged for 20 years or more; Cognac can be aged for over 60 years before being bottled. Both are diluted to about 40 percent alcohol, and their flavor and color may be corrected with sugar, oak extract, and caramel before bottling.

Marc
and
grappa
are the French and Italian names for single-distilled brandy made from pomace, the fermented skins, seeds, stems, and pulp left over from pressing grapes for wine. This solid debris still has some juice and a lot of sugar and tannins remaining in it, which, with the addition of water and a second period of fermentation, yield a pungent wine. Distillation concentrates the flavor, producing a brandy that is known for its strength and sharpness.

Traditionally, marc and grappa were bottled as is, without filtering out the sharper alcohols created in the distillation process, but today more refined aged products are being produced. With age, marc and grappa can develop the same flavor chemicals as those in blue cheese, a quality that is highly prized by aficionados.

Distilled beer (minus the hops) is aged in wood to develop color and flavor, eventually producing whiskey. Like beer, much of its primary character depends on the mix of grains used in its preparation. Whiskeys made with all malted barley are called “single-malt.” Those made with a combination of malted barley and grains are called “grain whiskey.” These can be named for the type of grain used, such as rye, or they can be named for their place of origin, such as Scotch, Irish, or Canadian.

Scotches,
especially single-malt types, are some of the most flavorful and nuanced (and most expensive) whiskeys in the world. One of the characteristic qualities of Scotch is a smoky aroma that comes from drying the malt over a live fire. In the western and northern areas of Scotland, called the Islands and Highland region, respectively, the fuel usually includes peat, a form of dried compost that gives peat-smoked Scotch a particularly earthy character. There are two types of Scotch that are commonly available:

A modern whiskey distillery in Scotland

Single-malt Scotch
is made from 100 percent malted barley, and each brand is made at a single distillery, usually in the Highland region of Speyside or on one of the western islands of Arran, Jura, Mull, Orkney, or Skye. The Isle of Islay to the south is considered its own single-malt region. Highland single malts include Balvenie, Cragganmore, Dalmore, Glenfiddich, McClelland’s, and The Glenlivet. Island single-malt distilleries include Arran, Bruichladdich, Jura, and Talisker. Laphroaig is the most popular Islay Scotch.

Blended Scotch
is a blend of different single-malt and grain whiskeys that usually come from more than one distillery. This category accounts for 90 percent of the whiskey produced in Scotland. They are usually less than half single malt, and each brand has its own style. Popular blended Scotches include Dewar’s, Johnnie Walker, Cutty Sark, and J&B.

Regardless of its type, by law all Scotch must be distilled in a Scottish distillery. It cannot be distilled to alcohol strength of more than 94.7 percent so that it retains the flavor of its raw materials. It must be aged in Scotland in oak barrels for at least three years. And it cannot be bottled at less than 40 percent alcohol by volume.