Most of the beverages gathered in that section have a great number of ingredients. The title of this section should have been "the herbs, spices, seeds, nuts, tree bark, flower, fruits series...." but this is also slightly misleading. This category is not based on ingredients.
Those spirits have been gathered here as they all shared two characteristics:
- a neutral base
- ingredients flavoring that neutral base thanks to many extraction methods
Those spirits have been gathered here as they all shared two characteristics:
- a neutral base
- ingredients flavoring that neutral base thanks to many extraction methods
Some more warning notes as an intro to "herbs and spices flavoured spirits".
It is a difficult category to build, for many reasons but most of all, depending on the angle you look at it (sugar quantity? dominant flavour? process of fabrication? historical habits?)
Historical habits:
If the north of Europe started flavoring its alcohol with juniper berries, the south went for anis, as well as liquorice- they are all flavored spirits even though gin has often benefited of its separate category, probably thanks to its market share.
Mix of spirits and non spirit in the same category:
What about vermouth, bitters and other herbal liquors? They are not spirits per say as there is no distillation involved, or only partly. However they are at the origin of the history of spirits, when those were bridging alchemist and medicinal purposes. This is why they have their place into a website dedicated to spirits.
Sugar content vs mode of fabrication vs dominant flavours:
Last but not least, several alcohols can be in one category and in the other, depending on whether we look at them from the dominant spice point of view or from the preparation method or the quantity of sugar (ie. sambucca or ouzo).
Enough said, let's explore now!
It is a difficult category to build, for many reasons but most of all, depending on the angle you look at it (sugar quantity? dominant flavour? process of fabrication? historical habits?)
Historical habits:
If the north of Europe started flavoring its alcohol with juniper berries, the south went for anis, as well as liquorice- they are all flavored spirits even though gin has often benefited of its separate category, probably thanks to its market share.
Mix of spirits and non spirit in the same category:
What about vermouth, bitters and other herbal liquors? They are not spirits per say as there is no distillation involved, or only partly. However they are at the origin of the history of spirits, when those were bridging alchemist and medicinal purposes. This is why they have their place into a website dedicated to spirits.
Sugar content vs mode of fabrication vs dominant flavours:
Last but not least, several alcohols can be in one category and in the other, depending on whether we look at them from the dominant spice point of view or from the preparation method or the quantity of sugar (ie. sambucca or ouzo).
Enough said, let's explore now!
WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR KNOWLEDGE. TIME TO CLICK BELOW AND BECOME SPECIFIC.
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AND TAKE THE QUIZZ AFTER THAT!
Header: photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash