Cordial/Liqueur -a strongly flavored highly sweet liquor usually drunk in small quantities after dinner as a digestif.

 A cordials flavor can come from many sources: fruits, herbs & leaves, flowers, nuts, seeds and beans, roots and barks.   Cordials must contain at least 2.5% sugar but usually contain far more.  Honey, maple and corn syrups are also used as sweeteners.  Cordial and Liqueur as words are interchangeable.

 The base alcohol varies:  neutral grain spirits are common.  Many liqueurs, however, are made from a specific spirit, such as, Scotch in Drambuie, Cognac in Grand Marnier or Irish Whiskey in Bailey=s.  Others are distilled from the primary ingredients themselves.

 Cordial comes from Latin: cor which means heart.  Cordials were originally made by alchemist or monks as a health remedy or elixir to soothe weary travelers.  Liqueur comes from the Latin: liquefacere, meaning to melt or dissolve (which is how most cordials are made!).

 Cordials are produced by cold or hot methods.  Cold methods include infusion, maceration and percolation.  Distillers use infusion and maceration for fruits which might be damaged by heat.  During infusions, crushed fruits are soaked in water for as long as a year. The liquid is strained, sweetened and added to alcohol.   In maceration, the crushed fruit is soaked directly in alcohol.   After the liquid is strained off, the remaining fruit is distilled and the distillate is recombined with the infused liquid.  Liqueurs commonly made this way include: triple sec, cassis, cointreau; Grand Marnier.   Percolation is often used for flavorings such as herbs and leaves.  Ingredients are placed in a basket or strainer and the alcohol is pumped up over them.  This process, similar to brewing coffee without heat, may go on for months until all  flavor is extracted.  Ingredients may be distilled afterward.   Drambuie, Irish Mist, Chartreuse are made this way.

 Hot methods include distillation in water and distillation in alcohol.  Water distillation is used for delicate herbs and flowers.  Once distilled, the flavored water is added to an alcohol base.  Ingredients such as seeds, nuts, bark or orange peel are more often distilled in alcohol. They are first soaked in alcohol, the distilled with additional spirits.

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