Food - Drink
What's The Difference Between Liquor And Liqueur?
By AUTUMN SWIERS
The sweet and the "quick" spirits, along with the others on the backbar, each serve a specific function in the mixologist's toolbox. It's time to settle the debate between liqueur and liquor once and for all, and find out what makes them distinct.
Liquor may be what comes to mind when many think of the word "alcohol,” since it’s a catchall term for any hard spirit that has a higher alcohol content than wine or beer. Liquor includes the most common spirits on the back bar, such as vodka, rum, tequila, bourbon, brandy, and whiskey.
The term "liqueur" derives from herbal remedies and is primarily a flavor enhancer, adding sweet, citrusy, or herbaceous overtones to a cocktail's base liquor. Several well-known liqueur brands are Cointreau, Baileys, Campari, Lazzaroni Amaretto, Frangelico, and Aperol.