Monastery hut
What to drink liqueur withThe history of liqueurs is connected withmonks and European monasteries. No, monks did not drink liqueurs. Herbalism, homeopathy and distillation of alcohol for medicinal purposes have always been a favorite pastime of monastics - liqueurs were born from the combination of these three principles. Some of the first monastic recipes are still alive, such as the green or yellow liqueur Chartreuse from Grenoble, France, which contains the extract of 130 plants, or the nutty Frangelico from Italy. The ancestors of modern liqueurs were banal alcoholic infusions of medicinal herbs, plants, fruits or parts of fruits, for example, citrus peel. Then liqueurs began to infuse and run through a distillation cube - this is how flavored alcohol was obtained. Today's liqueurs are often the result of high technology. Baileys was invented in 1974. The formula, according to which cream is mixed with whiskey, - trade secret. Combining the incompatible is Baileys' specialty, which is why it's popular in radical cocktails like the B-52. Citrus Company
The more intense the flavor, the greaterit was popular with distillers. Thus, liqueurs with citrus zest formed a separate group, the most striking representatives of which are triple sec style liqueurs, "perfumed" with bitter orange zest, a small bitter citrus fruit native to the island of Curacao. Incidentally, this is where the name of one of these liqueurs comes from. Neither the traditional "Margarita", nor the "Cosmopolitan" popularized by Madonna and the heroines of "Sex and the City", nor Crepes Suzette (pancakes with Cointreau sauce) can do without Cointreau, the most famous "triple sec". and orange marmalade, a classic example of the use of liqueurs in cooking.
Fruit barFruit liqueurs are often extremelytraditional. Such is, for example, Creme de Cassis - blackcurrant liqueur, without which "Kir Royal" is unthinkable. But among fruit liqueurs there are also trendy ones. One of the discoveries of the last decade is Soho, a liqueur based on lychee berries, known for their juicy and specifically aromatic white pulp. It was first released in 1989 for bars and nightclubs, and in 1991 it appeared on retail sale. Sometimes "Soho" is drunk neat with ice, but still more often - in cocktails, combined with fruit juice, cola and tonic. The taste of lychee is so recognizable that it is quite difficult to interrupt it with anything. However, the bar future of fruit liqueurs is not cloudless. The reason for this is the worldwide tendency of recent years to replace them with a combination of fruit puree and strong alcohol, primarily vodka. Club aniseed
The positions of classic, non-fruit liqueurs are not infashion. Moreover, some of them are experiencing a rebirth, like Sambuca - an anise liqueur originally from Turin, Italy. Two varieties are used in anise liqueurs: green from the Mediterranean and star from Vietnam or China. The strength of anise liqueurs ranges from 25 to 51 degrees, but the strength of sambuca is exactly 40. The word "sambuca" comes from the scientific name of elderberry - Sambuca Nigra. Elderberry oil and white flowers, anise seeds and sometimes citrus zest are added to sweet sambuca. Elderberry flowers add additional aromas that go well with anise. Sometimes sambuca is drunk "with a fly". (con la mosca): two coffee beans are placed in a glass, the liqueur is poured in, set on fire, the drink is left to cool, and only then is it drunk. This ritual is quite popular among clubbers, who for some reason believe that sambuca has an effect similar to a narcotic. In fact, there is nothing "high" about this liqueur - it's all about good marketing.
