Liqueur

A liqueur is an alcoholic drink made from a spirit, often neutral grain alcohol, with added sugar, fruit, herbs, flowers or spices. It is usually served after dinner or used as a base in cocktails and cooking. Its roots lie in the medicinal herbal preparations of the Middle Ages, and it is now produced all over the world in many styles.

History

The origins of liqueurs lie in medicinal herbs and spiced wines prepared in the Middle Ages. Flavoured drinks such as hippocras circulated among the elite, and herbal and spice recipes were often kept in monasteries and apothecaries. It is commonly credited that Arnaud de Villeneuve, a physician linked to the medical faculty of Montpellier, helped popularise distillation with the alembic, a step that made more concentrated aromas possible and paved the way for the liqueurs we know today.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in France and elsewhere in Europe, liqueurs made by steeping plants and spices in sweetened spirit became widespread. Seeds such as anise, fennel, coriander and caraway were common, and they were valued for their digestive and restorative qualities. Many recipes became associated with religious communities such as the Carthusians, the Benedictines and the Cistercians, who made them in their abbeys.

The decisive shift towards fruit and sugar is usually traced to the early eighteenth century, when Barthélemy Rocher added fruit and sugar to his spirits and created a very successful cherry brandy. Around 1775 production began to be regulated and the number of varieties grew noticeably. The liqueur then moved from the apothecary shelf to the dessert table of fashionable society, and exotic fruits and spices arriving through long-distance trade widened the range of flavours.

In the following centuries production became industrial and liqueurs spread across the world. Italy also developed its own tradition of herbal liqueurs, some of them of very high strength, and in the Americas the drink took on local names and uses. Today historic producers who keep old recipes coexist with large brands that make liqueurs in a wide variety of flavours.

Culture

The liqueur holds a modest but steady place in social life. It is drunk on its own, at room temperature or over ice, during or after dessert, and in many homes it appears as a drink for celebrations. Its sweet and aromatic character also makes it useful in bartending, where it adds flavour, scent and colour to classic and modern drinks. A familiar example is coffee with coffee liqueur, which is served at the table and also used in baking.

In the kitchen, liqueurs flavour desserts, creams, ice creams, sauces and sponge cakes, and in some traditional recipes they replace wine or cooking spirits. Varieties are often grouped into families. Plant-based ones, such as mint, verbena or jasmine, are linked to monastic recipes. Fruit-based ones, such as orange, cherry, banana or strawberry, reflect monastic or rural traditions. Seed-based liqueurs, such as coffee, anise or clove, and root-based ones, such as gentian or lemon, are generally of industrial origin.

The drink also has a visual side. In layered drinks each liqueur is poured slowly over the back of a spoon so that different densities stay apart and form bands of colour. Some liqueurs are made clear so they do not change the colour of a cocktail, while others are coloured to make it stand out.

The term varies by country. In the United States and Canada, where spirits are often called liquor, the line between liqueurs and spirits is often blurred, especially with flavoured spirits. In Venezuela and the Dominican Republic the drink is popularly known as lavagallos. European Union rules require a minimum alcohol content of 15 percent by volume and, in most cases, a sugar content of between 70 and 100 grams per litre, with stricter figures for certain flavours.

Today liqueurs are part of the offer in bars, restaurants and shops, alongside lighter drinks. One topic of public debate is their link with heavy episodic drinking among adolescents, which health authorities address as a matter of public health.

Trivia