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LIQUEURS
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LIQUEURS , the See also:general See also:term applied to perfumed or flavoured potable See also:spirits, sweetened by the addition of See also:sugar. The term " liqueur " is also used for certain wines and unsweetened spirits of very See also:superior quality, or remarkable for their bouquet, such as tokay or See also:fine old See also:brandy or See also:whisky. The basis of all the " liqueurs " proper consists of (a) relatively strong See also:alcohol or spirit, which must be as pure and neutral as possible; (b) sugar or See also:syrup; and (c) flavouring matters. There are three distinct See also:main methods of manufacturing liqueurs. The first, by which liqueurs of the highest class are prepared, is the " See also:distillation " or " alcoholate " See also:process. This consists in macerating various aromatic substances such as seeds, leaves, roots and barks of See also:plants, &c., with strong spirit and subsequently distilling the infusion so obtained generally in the presence of a whole or a See also:part of the solid See also:matter. The mixture of spirit, See also:water and flavouring matters which distils over is termed the " alcoholate." To this is added a See also:solution of sugar or syrup, and frequently colouring matter in the shape of harmless See also:vegetable extracts or burnt sugar, and a further quantity of flavouring matter in the shape of essential See also:oils or clear spirituous vegetable extracts. The second method of making liqueurs is that known as the " essence " process. It is employed, as a See also:rule, for cheap and inferior articles; the process resolving itself into the addition of various essential oils, either natural or artificially prepared, and of spirituous extracts to strong spirit, filtering and adding the saccharine matter to the clear filtrate. The third method of manufacturing liqueurs is the " infusion " process, in which alcohol and sugar are added to various fresh See also:fruit juices. Liqueurs prepared by this method are frequently called " cordials." It has been suggested that " cordials " are articles of See also:home manufacture, and that liqueurs are necessarily of See also:foreign origin, but i,t is at least doubtful whether this is entirely correct. The See also:French, who excel in the preparation of liqueurs, grade their products, according to their sweetness and alcoholic strength, into cremes, huiles or baumes, which have a thick, oily consistency; and eaux, extraits or elixirs, which, being less sweetened, are relatively limpid. Liqueurs are also classed, according to their commercial quality and See also:composition, as ordinaires, demifines, fines and sur fines. Certain liqueurs, containing only a single flavouring ingredient, or having a prevailing flavour of a particular substance, are named after that See also:body, for instance, creme de vanille, anisette, kiinimel, creme de menthe, &c. On the other See also:hand, many well-known liqueurs are compounded of very numerous aromatic principles. The nature and quantities of the flavouring agents employed in the preparation of liqueurs of this See also:kind are kept strictly See also:secret, but numerous " recipes " are given in See also:works dealing with this subject. Among the substances frequently used as flavouring agents are aniseed, See also:coriander, See also:fennel, See also:wormwood, See also:gentian, sassafras, See also:amber, See also:hyssop, See also:mint, See also:thyme, See also:angelica, citron, See also:lemon and See also:orange See also:peel, See also:peppermint, See also:cinnamon, See also:cloves, See also:iris, See also:caraway, See also:tea, See also:coffee and so on. The alcoholic strength of liqueurs ranges from See also:close on 8o% of alcohol by See also:volume in some kinds of See also:absinthe, to 27 % in anisette. The liqueur See also:industry is a very considerable one, there being in See also:France some 25,000 factories. Most of these are small, but some 600,000 gallons are annually exported from France alone. For absinthe, See also:benedictine, See also:chartreuse, curacoa, See also:kirsch and See also:vermouth see under See also:separate headings. Among other well-known See also:trade liqueurs may be mentioned maraschino, which takes its name from a variety of See also:cherry—the marasca—grown in See also:Dalmatia, the centre of the trade being at See also:Zara; kummel, the flavour of which is largely due to caraway seeds; allasch, which is a See also:rich variety of kummel; and cherry and other "fruit"brandies and whiskies, the latter being perhaps more properly termed cordials. See Duplais, La Fabrication See also:des liqueurs; and Rocques, See also:Les Eauxde-See also:vie et liqueurs. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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