Liqueurs are sweetened distilled spirits, ranging anywhere from 11-12% to 50%+ in alcohol by volume. They vary all across the flavor spectrum, with the common tie being perceptible sweetness. Liqueurs are a pivotal and fun ingredient to play with in cocktails, adding both sweetness and unique flavors at once!
Herbal
Herbal liqueurs are generally the most complex style of liqueurs, created from macerations with many (often dozens to even hundreds!) of different herbs/roots/spices. Many have very long historical backgrounds, originally formulated by pharmacists for medicinal purposes.
Bénédictine
Bénédictine. In the same realm as Chartreuse, Bénédictine is another one of those age-old (300+ yrs) herbal liqueurs from Europe (France) made with a blend of secret herbs and spices (27) that only a few [...]
Chartreuse Élixir Végétal
Chartreuse Élixir Végétal. This is an extra potent version of Green Chartreuse, clocking in at an incredible 69% abv, 14% higher than the standard (55%). Flavorwise, it’s more concentrated and less sweet than the regular [...]
Green Chartreuse
Green Chartreuse. You may have heard of the color chartreuse (this was super popular in the fashion world a couple years back), but did you know the color actually got its name from this liqueur? [...]
Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
Luxardo maraschino liqueur. To start, this tastes nothing like those neon plastic-y cherries generally associated with "maraschino" (more on those later - the history there is also quite interesting). As one of the oldest European [...]
Maraska Maraschino Liqueur
Maraska Maraschino Liqueur. This liqueur is made from the Marasca sour cherry. Like the popular Luxardo version, its flavor is more herbaceous than it is fruity, as maraschino liqueur is actually made by distilling the [...]
Pomp & Whimsy Gin Liqueur
Pomp & Whimsy Gin Liqueur. I've been seeing lots of beautiful creations and love for this new liqueur recently, and am so glad to have this in my collection. As the craft cocktail and spirits [...]
Skinos Mastiha Liqueur
Skinos Mastiha liqueur. This is a truly fascinating spirit. It's so different from anything else I've ever tasted in edible/drinkable form. The flavor is hard to describe…but it kinda tastes like a less-minty toothpaste or [...]
St. George Absinthe Verte
St. George Absinthe Verte. For almost a century, absinthe has been surrounded by a shroud of mystery due to its ban for supposed hallucinogenic properties. When the ban was finally lifted in 2007, St. George [...]
Yellow Chartreuse
Yellow Chartreuse. This is the younger sibling of the magnificent and holy Green Chartreuse. The popular Green Chartreuse came to life in 1764 as an adapted version of an "elixir of long life" (see this [...]
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Fruity
As the naming implies, fruit liqueurs are fruit-based, sweet and delicious!
Chambord Liqueur
Chambord. This is actually one of my favorite fruit liqueurs even though I don't reach for it as often as I'd like. Chambord is a delicious French liqueur made with red and black raspberries, vanilla, [...]
Fabrizia Limoncello
Fabrizia Limoncello. I was in Italy early this year and definitely couldn't ignore the abundant popularity of limoncello, typically imbibed post-dinner alongside a selection of grappa and various amaro. It's one of the cultural "norms" [...]
Giffard Banane du Bresil
Giffard Banane du Bresil liqueur. Guys, this. OMG. Sooo near the start of my homebar journey, for some reason I decided to pick up a bottle of 99 Bananas schnapps liqueur. 🤨 Well, that bottle [...]
Giffard Pamplemousse Liqueur
Giffard Pamplemousse liqueur. I am a huuuuge grapefruit fan, and as such have been eyeing this liqueur since I first heard about it (Pamplemousse is French for grapefruit). Being the mega fan I am (fav [...]
Giffard Passionfruit Liqueur
Giffard Passionfruit Liqueur. This liqueur is incredible. I've raved about the Giffard grapefruit and banana liqueurs previously, and this adds to my obsession over their amazing liqueurs. Passionfruit (also called maracuya or lilikoi) is one [...]
Ginja9 Ginjinha Liqueur
Ginja9 ginjinha sour cherry liqueur. Sooo, I first heard about ginjinha liqueur over half a year ago from @making_cocktails_llf who picked up a couple bottles on a trip to Portugal. She raved about how delicious [...]
Grand Marnier
Grand Marnier. This is one of the more well-known liqueurs on the market today. I’m on a train traveling across Italy right now trying to discover all the local spirits and liqueurs/amaro and this is [...]
Mahina Coconut liqueur
Mahina Coconut liqueur. I got this fun liqueur recently and have been massively enjoying it! This is an agricole rhum based liqueur, made simply using 3 natural ingredients - macerating fresh young coconut in Clement [...]
Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao orange liqueur. You may have heard of Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Triple Sec, Curaçao, and the like, but what's the difference? The commonality between these is that they're all considered orange liqueurs, [...]
Rothman and Winter Orchard Apricot Liqueur
Rothman and Winter Orchard Apricot Liqueur. Let's revisit "Apricot Brandy." I recently posted about how apricot brandy can be super confusing as it can refer to two VERY different things: one is a dry (non-sweet) full [...]
Spirit Works Sloe Gin
Sloe Gin. What is sloe gin, what does it taste like, and how do you use it? As the name suggests, sloe gin is actually a liqueur made from gin that is macerated (aka soaked [...]
St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur
St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur - this is truly autumn in a bottle. As if my previous posts haven't given it away, I'm a huge fan of everything they do and produce at St. George Spirits [...]
St. Germain
Ohhhh St. Germain. This was one of my first purchases that really jump started my cocktail interest (after getting past my initial "cocktail discovery" craze in college of throwing together Malibu, Peach schnapps, and Ocean [...]
Velvet Falernum
John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum. If you've been getting into the world of tiki drinks, you've surely come across recipes calling for falernum. Falernum is a syrup/liqueur originating from Barbados that has rich flavors of [...]
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Spiced
I refer to “spiced” liqueurs as those with warm notes from sweet and/or savory baking spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and coffee, nuts, etc.
Alkermes Liqueur
Alkermes. Ok it’s not Campari, but it IS a red Italian liqueur. I had never heard of Alkermes til my visit to Florence earlier this year. Designated as a traditional product of Tuscany, Alkermes/alchermes is [...]
Ancho Reyes
Ancho Reyes Original. If you're even mildly a fan of spicy cocktails or the smokiness of dried peppers, this is the perfect liqueur to pick up! I resisted for a while, convincing myself I didn't need [...]
Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur
Barrow's Intense Ginger liqueur. It seems so many cocktail enthusiasts are REALLY into ginger for some reason, and after all the great things I heard about this one, I couldn't be more excited to get [...]
Compass Box Orangerie
Compass Box Orangerie. Ok, if you're a whisky fan and have never tried this before, dang you're in for a treat. Orangerie is made by the masterful Compass Box Whisky blenders, and is essentially an [...]
Corbin Cash Sweet Potato Liqueur
Corbin Cash Sweet Potato Liqueur. Guys, this stuff is awesome. My friend (who usually just sips on straight whiskey or rum) discovered this last summer and started buying (and finishing) bottle after bottle at an [...]
Disaronno Amaretto
Disaronno Originale. The oh-so-familiar amaretto liqueur in the distinctive bottle. Amaretto is probably one of the most recognizable mainstream liqueurs, and most likely you've heard of it in some form or other, whether that be [...]
Frangelico
Frangelico was actually one of the very first liqueurs I ever owned. When I first got interested in cocktails my senior year of college, I threw a couple cocktail parties for my friends, loading up [...]
Homemade Kümmel liqueur
Kümmel liqueur. This is an INCREDIBLE liqueur that I was SO excited to discover recently. I first tried it at White Chapel Bar in a Jenever drink, and thanks to @nycmixology for helping with the [...]
Kuma Tumeric liqueur
Kuma Tumeric liqueur. Kuma is a liqueur made with turmeric root, citrus peels, coriander, and black pepper. It's about a similar sweetness level as a sweet vermouth or amaro, making it sippable on its own [...]
Nocino liqueur
Nocino liqueur. I picked this up in Italy after enjoying it as a post-dinner digestivo following the largest meal I've had in my life. Nocino is a traditional walnut liqueur originating from the Modena region [...]
Red Eye Rye
Red Eye Rye. Well, this Tennessee-made bottle is quite the unique spirit - a blend of Kentucky rye whiskey (95% rye, 5% malted barley) with South American-grown arabica coffee, gently balanced with sugar and bottled [...]
Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey Liqueur
Skrewball peanut butter whiskey (liqueur). Guys - hear me out here and read this entire post. After trying this out in a few magnificent cocktails, I feel personally convicted to evangelize this outside of the [...]
St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
St. Elizabeth Allspice dram was brought to market in 2008 as a traditional pimento dram. (no, not the weird red strips inside olives) Pimento is also known as "allspice" and is commonly used in Jamaican [...]
Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao
Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao. Crème de Cacao might conjure up thoughts of sugary, sickly sweet cocktails…some type of liquified candy bar…or some artificially scented "chocolate" flavoring…well, this bottle couldn't be further from all that. [...]
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