No alcoholic beverage can boast of such a variety of flavours as liqueurs. Warming herbal, bright orange, sweet chocolate, enveloping cream — this is just an incomplete list of what can be included in the concept of “delicious liqueur.”
In this article, we have compiled a rating of the most famous liqueurs and bitters in 2023, which are equally good in pure form and cocktails.
10. Drambuie
It is made according to an old Scottish recipe. It includes scotch, meadow herbs, spices and honey. Herbal notes of saffron heather, cinnamon, and Demerara sugar dominate the taste of the liqueur. Drinks of a luxurious golden-amber colour are excellent in their pure form, with coffee or as part of cocktails.
9. Fernet Branca
Italian herbal liqueur has been produced since 1845 according to a recipe that is kept secret. An ideal digestive that promotes digestion.
8. Passoa Passion Fruit
An ideal ingredient for fruit cocktails is a liqueur of unusual red-pink colour with an exotic sweet and sour taste of tropical fruits: mango, lemon, and passion fruit. It is made only from natural ingredients: passion fruit from South America and citrus fruits — from Haiti, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
7. Riga Balzams Currant
A variation on the theme of the classics. The famous Riga balm with black currant. The taste of the liqueur successfully intertwines familiar “medical” notes and berry sweetness. The aroma is rich, with dominant shades of spices, wild herbs, ginger and currant. The aftertaste is long and warming.
6. Baileys
Perhaps one of the most famous liqueurs in the world, the taste of which is complex to confuse with anything: soft, creamy with characteristic notes of ice cream, milk chocolate and vanilla, shaded with a slight bitterness of Irish whiskey. It is excellent in its pure form, with coffee and ice cream, as well as in Bailey’s smoothies and other cocktails.
5. Mozart Chocolate Cream
Only the best ingredients are used to prepare this delicate chocolate liqueur: real Belgian chocolate, cocoa distillate, Bourbon vanilla and fresh cream. Mozart liqueur is good in its pure form, as well as with coffee, desserts and various alcoholic cocktails.
4. Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
Orange liqueur, the main ingredient of which is French cognac. The drink acquires its delicious, mild taste during aging in oak barrels — its duration is at least 6 months. The liqueur is suitable for consumption in its pure form, as well as in cocktails or with ice.
3. Cointreau
French liqueur, which is made from orange peel infused with neutral alcohol. Its taste combines notes of sweet and bitter oranges, quinine and sweet spices. Due to the high content of essential oils, the liquor becomes cloudy when water or ice cubes are added.
2. Aperol
The main ingredient of the famous cocktail is an Aperol Syringe. This liqueur, or somewhat bitter, was invented in 1919 by the Barbieri brothers from Padua, Italy. It has a vibrant orange colour and a powerful aroma of ripe oranges with subtle notes of field herbs and quinine.
1. Jagermeister
The famous German liqueur is renowned for its bitter-herbal aroma and refreshing aftertaste. It is made according to an old recipe, kept in the strictest confidence. It is only known that the composition includes 56 natural components from around the globe.