Liqueurs

Question 1

Defination

Answer 1

now defined by law in Europe and USA

any alcoholic beverage ranging from 15 to over 40 % v/v and containing at least 10 % sugar. ( usually sugar syrup but glucose and honey may also be used)

Must be a product of fermentation

Additives must be of agricultural origin

Question 2

Spirit base

Answer 2

Neutral / Congeneric

means can be any one spirit individually - GNS, brandy, gin, marc, rum, vodka, whisk(e)y or a mixture of mixture of spirits.

GNS dominated because of its rectified nature allowing the fill expression of any added flavour , although more congenric spirits maybe added to to provide additional flavours.

Question 3

Legal Defn

Answer 3

Products obtained by mixing or redistilling distilled spirits with or over fruits, flowers , plants or pure juices and any other natural flavouring material or with extracts derived from infusions, percolation or maceration of such material and containing sugar, dextrose or levulose or a combination of these in amount not less than 2.5% by wight of the finished products

Question 4

Liqueur production

Answer 4

1. mixing macerate flavour base ( extractedraw flavour with ethanol) with a sweetened spirit
2. maceration of flavour base with distilled spirit , followed by distillation and mixing of distillated with sweetened spirit and water

flavourings, colourings etc maybe added in the final stages.

Question 5

Flavour bases

Answer 5

fruits, vegatables, essences, distillates, flowers, roots, kernels, nuts, beans, herbs, leaves, barks, powdered spices,, fruit concentrates, nature identical flavourings or artifical flavourings or mixtures of these.

Question 6

Categories

Answer 6

1. Fruit
2. Botanical ( jagermister, sambuca)
3. Cocoa, coffee, tea
4. Nut and emulsions

spirit bases include - brandies, whiskies, gins, rums and vidkas

Question 7

Fruit

Answer 7

flavour base : fruit pulp, juice or extract

flavour base may be included in distillation

depending on country of manufacturing , additives sich as fruits, essences, natural or artificial flavourings and colorants fruit are often frozen to spften their flesh and maceration can last upto a year.

Question 8

Cocoa, coffee, tea

Answer 8

• GNS predominant base ( 30%)
• flavour base from percolate, then filtered and mixed with spirit, sweeteing agents and water
• vallina extract usually added - to enhance sweet and complimant coffee and cocoa flavours

Question 9

Nut and Emulsions

Answer 9

nut flavor delicate - hence careful extraction ethanol or water. Skin has high lipid content and much of the nuts mass is contained within the skin which is discarded.

dairy cream emulsions liqueurs deoends on the homogenization of dairy cream and sweetened and falvoured ethanol/water using caseinate or other emulsifier to form a stable liquid with very little or no separation.

Usual flavours : chocolate / coffee ( but wide range )

Question 10

Botanical

Answer 10

flower, herbs or spices

can be included as whole botanicals, nature oils or extracted essences

Botanicals also add colour apart from flavour

Question 11

Bitters

Answer 11

• small but powerfully potent
• used to add bitter profile to raise profile of cocktails
• usually macerate of either alcohol or glycerol

Question 12

Bittering agents

Answer 12

Gentian

Cinchinoa

Question 13

Amaro

Answer 13

from Italy

more often sweetened

popular variant : fernet - uses everything from rhubarb to artichoke heart