What is the difference between liquor and liqueur?
What is the difference between liquor and liqueur?
A liquor is an alcoholic drink that is distilled from grains or plants, such as rum, vodka, gin or whiskey.
A liqueur is a sweet or herbal alcoholic drink that is made from fruit, herbs, flowers, nuts or spices plus (usually) sugar and a spirit such as grain alcohol, vodka or rum. Liqueurs can be served as before or after-dinner drinks and used in desserts. Many liqueurs are made in France, such as Cassis (made with black currants), Chartreuse (made from plants and flowers) or Pastis (flavored with anise seeds).
Apéritif is a French word for a drink taken before a meal in order to whet the appetite.
Plant-based drinks have been used therapeutically throughout the ages to aid the appetite, but nobody really knows when the custom of pre-dinner drinks began in earnest. Nevertheless, cocktail hour has been an American tradition since about the turn of the 20th century.
While some people drink hard alcohol and call it an apéritif, the word usually means a light drink such as wine-based vermouth, bitters like Campari, anise-flavored liqueurs like pastis and of course Champagne.
An apéritif is usually accompanied by small, salty snacks like nuts or olives; the word can also refer to a cocktail with finger food that can take the place of a full dinner.
Reference: Root Source: Pastis (Cookthink)
Reference: What is a Negroni? (Cookthink)
A Negroni is an Italian apéritif made from equal parts gin, Campari and vermouth.
Legend has it that the Negroni was invented at the Caffè Casoni in Florence, in 1919. It was supposedly named in honor of Count Camillo Negroni, whose request for an Americano with gin led to the creation of a brand new pre-dinner drink.
Variations on the classic Negroni -- which is traditionally garnished with a curl of orange peel -- include the American version, with sparkling water and lemon. Other Italian versions substitute spumante brut or vodka for gin. A Sparkling Negroni is made with Champagne or prosecco. A Negroni Zimbabwe is made with orange juice.
In 1919, the Negroni Family opened the Negroni Distilleries in Treviso, manufacturing a ready-made Antico Negroni 1919 formula.
Vermouth is fortified white wine that's been infused with herbs and spices.
The word vermouth is from the German word for wormwood (wermut), which was a main ingredient until somebody decided it was poisonous. Vermouth was first commercially produced in Turin, Italy in the 18th century and now most vermouth is produced in Italy and France. But people have been making fortified wines since the 5th century.
Vermouth ranges from dry to sweet. White dry vermouth is a popular apéritif and used to make a martini; sweet red vermouth is drunk on ice or mixed into cocktails like a Manhattan; white bianco vermouth is slightly sweet.
Vermouth is also used in cooking, primarily to add an herbal wine-flavored touch to sauces.
what you should know
An anise-flavored liqueur native to southern France, pastis is known as the "milk of Provence." It's the honey, too, a symbol for the region's slower, sunnier pace.
Peter Mayle, who made a fortune selling the idea of Provence, wrote in his second book that "the most powerful ingredient in pastis is not aniseed or alcohol, but ambiance."
pastiche The classic/clichéd setting for a pastis: among the old men lobbing boules on a hard-dirt pétanque court in Aix-en-Provence, the plane trees spangling in the late afternoon sun.
5 to 1 To enjoy pastis, just mix it with cold water. The classic ratio of water to pastis is five parts water to one part pastis.
madness in a bottle Pastis is a friendlier, less hallucinogenic relative of absinthe, the wormwood-laced liqueur that was banned for decades because of fears it caused madness.
drink me? Marilyn Manson -- better known around here as Evan Rachel Wood's boyfriend -- is at the forefront of an absinthe renaissance. The genre-bending rocker has his own absinthe label called Mansinthe.
what you need
Though you could use any old jug of cold water to dilute your pastis, there's something especially refreshing about water from a chilled glass pitcher.
Those old French men are onto something: you can't improve on a warm day spent tossing boules while sipping pastis. Get your own pétanque set from Playaboule.
If you really want to get in the mood for pastis, make something out of Patricia Well's At Home in Provence and then plop down in front of the TV for a marathon session of Claude Berri's masterworks, Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources .
what you do
A classic pastis is the perfect apéritif, but perfect can get boring. When you need a change, try a pastis Negroni instead.
Goat cheese coated with pastis and Herbes de Provence is a simple and elegant way to create a delicious appetizer.
If you're bored by the same old thing, start a fire with this dramatic pastis-flamed shrimp.
Mussels love pastis almost as much as white wine. So why not combine them for these mussels with shallots and tomato sauce?
There is nothing more classically Provençal than bouillabaisse, the rich, aromatic throw-fish-in-a-pot stew.
Featured recipe: For dessert, try these cornmeal and pastis cookies, from Cooking 4 the Week (again!). It is the featured recipe for this week's Root Source Challenge.
A simple syrup is truly simple -- just sugar dissolved in boiling water. The water-sugar ratio varies, but the standard is two parts water to one part sugar.
Simple syrup is a bartender's staple; it's easier to swirl in a liquid than it is to add sugar directly, because the granules don't need to dissolve. Simple syrup is also handy to have on hand to sweeten iced tea or coffee. The syrup will keep almost indefinitely if stored in a tightly sealed bottle in the fridge.
Simple syrups are used to soak cakes, poach fruit, sweeten frostings and make candy. You can flavor the syrup by adding any number of other ingredients -- ginger, orange or lemon zest, mint, basil, rosemary, lavender. Just put them in once the water boils right before adding the sugar, and strain them out before bottling.
