What is a Liqueur

Liqueurs are a vast category encompassing a variety of quite disparate drinks from bittersweet aperitifs like Campari to rich after dinner treats like Bailey’s Irish Cream. It is also one of the oldest categories with such notable liqueurs as Chartreuse having their roots in the 18th century or earlier. What unites all liqueurs is sugar and alcohol. By EU and UK law liqueurs must be based on spirits, have a minimum of 15% alcohol and contain at least 100 grams of sugar per litre. Beyond that, liqueur producers can really do anything.

Most liqueurs are made by steeping the principle flavour ingredients such as fruit, spices or herbs in alcohol for a period of time, before blending, diluting, and sweetening. Because liqueurs must get their alcohol from spirits, drinks such as vermouth and aromatised wine do not fit into the category because they are based on wine (though they may also be fortified with spirits).

As liqueur is such a diverse group, it isn’t easy to split into subcategories, so we’ve come up with three ways of classifying liqueurs with most popular brands fitting into at least one of these categories. Below we’re taking a look at the base spirit, like whisky, rum or Cognac, then by main flavour type, such as orange or chocolate, and we’ve also got a special aperitif/ amari category. We hope you can find what you are looking for.