Liqueurs

28 September, 2012
Liqueurs

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A good raspberry liqueur will do the job, giving your cocktail a fresh and vibrant raspberry touch. It might surprise you to learn that the truly great raspberry liqueurs are still made from raspberries and nothing else.

Producers such as Merlet, Vedrenne (and Zuidam of course) still produce brilliant liqueurs made solely from real fruit. Distilleries such as Grand Marnier and Cointreau have been making perfect orange liqueurs for centuries. Even the drinks giants provide us with high quality liqueurs, such as the super coffee liqueurs Tia Maria and Kaluha.

So get wise and rid your drinks cabinet and back bar of the artificial garbage that has been flavouring our drinks for the past few years. Go back to using honest and well-made products in your cocktails and long drinks.

Future trends

The trends in liqueurs sometimes follow other trends. In this way the worldwide attention in whisky/bourbon and rum has sparked a whole range of new liqueurs.

Products combining whisky with herbs and spices are probably as old as whisky itself. The renewed interest in whisky and bourbon, however, has already led to a lot of new products, and believe me when I tell you that a lot more will follow.

Some of these products are really traditional, such as the new Drambuie 15 year old, which I personally think is one of the best liqueurs I ever tasted.

Others are really exciting and new, combining whisky, Irish whiskey or, in a lot of cases, bourbon with other flavours such as cherry or honey. As usual some of these combinations turn out better than others. In the long run the best combinations will survive and prove durable products. Hopefully the new Drambuie 15 year old will be among those that will catch the imagination of the consumers.

Rum has always proven a really good base for liqueurs and the latest rum revival will spark a lot of new products as well. There have always been good old Malibu and the Santa Teresa Rhum Orange but lately they have had company from new products combining the rum with the luscious flavour of caramel or spices such as cinnamon and vanilla.

The future looks bright for liqueurs so now it’s up to us, the distillers, to create the liqueurs that will flavour our drinks in the next decade.





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