Basically, spirits are organized into 8 "families," or types of spirits. Those are, in no particular order: vodka, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, brandy, liqueurs, and "other spirits."
When someone mentions one of the first five, a pretty good idea probably comes to mind as to exactly what they mean, but the last three get confusing for most people. Add to that the fact that you often see things sold as "cordials" and it can get really weird. This post is an attempt to demystify some of these classifications.
Brandy is the easiest and narrowest to define of these categories. It is a spirit distilled from a wine, which in turn is an alcoholic beverage fermented from fruit. This is what separates it from the other categories. Within brandy, there are three basic types: grape brandy (often called just brandy), fruit brandy, and pomace brandy.
Grape brandy is brandy made from grapes. In other words, it is basically distilled table wine. It is usually barrel aged (more on this later). This is what Cognac and Armagnac are known for. If a bottle is labeled just "brandy" it is most likely made from grapes. Although this is changing, especially with U.S. craft distillers, I misled a little bit when I called it distilled table wine. The base wine is usually, although, not always, made from different grapes than the wine we are used to drinking. The ideal wine is high in acid, moderate in sugar, and low in alcohol, which, while making it rather unpleasant to drink on its own, allows it to hold up to both distillation and extensive aging. In fact, brandy is the one drink which it is believed does not hit a "peak" of ideal age, after which it starts to decline. Some fine brandy is aged many decades, and it is believed that the best brandies in the world only continue to get better in the barrel.
Pomace brandy is also made from grapes, but not from the juice or wine. This brandy is made from the pips, skins, stems, etc. left over after wine grapes are pressed. It is usually served unaged. Pomace brandy, marc, and grappa are all examples of this category.
Fruit brandy is brandy made from fruit other than grapes. Apple brandy is a common one, followed by pear, cherry, and peach. Many Eastern European countries also drink plum brandy. This can be served aged, or unaged. Unaged brandy, whether from grapes or other fruit, are known as eaux-de-vie (water of life), and are clear. Aged brandies are darker in color. Calvados and applejack are common apple brandies. Kriek, poire, and framboise are common ways to label cherry, pear, and raspberry brandies, respectively. A brandy made from fruit other than grapes will almost always be labeled including the fruit. That is, it will be labeled as a "Raspberry Brandy," rather than "Brandy."
Liqueurs are often confused with brandies, especially fruit liqueurs and fruit brandies. The key distinction here is that fruit brandies are distilled from that fruit. Liqueurs, on the other hand, can have any base spirit, but are flavored, and have a sugar content between 2.5% and 30%. Examples are triple sec, Drambuie, Benedictine, curacao, Grand Marnier, schnapps, crème de menthe, crème de cacao, etc.
Proprietary liqueurs are liqueurs which refer to a specific brand name, i.e. Grand Marnier, Bailey's, Kahlua, while
generic liqueurs are generally accepted flavors of liqueur which may be available in multiple brands, i.e. curacao, crème de menthe, crème de banana, etc.
An interesting liqueur to consider is Grand Marnier. Many people think Grand Marnier is an orange brandy, rather than an orange liqueur. This is where it is tricky. Grand Marnier has a brandy base. The orange flavor and sugar, however, are added into the brandy (which has a grape base). This makes Grand Marnier a brandy based orange liqueur. In order to be an orange brandy, Grand Marnier would need to be distilled from oranges.
Cordials are a category with different meanings in different parts of the world. In the U.S., they are synonymous with liqueurs. The EU, however, recently changed their definition to mean a non-alcoholic ingredient. So beware, if shopping in Europe, your cordials will not have alcohol!
Other Spirits are not really one of the major families of spirits, and that's kind of the point. They were fairly unimportant until recently. With the resurgence of spirit forward cocktails and bitter cocktails, and with the re-legalization of absinthe, they are gaining in popularity. There are basically three major categories (in my objective opinion) to consider here: bitters, absinthe, and unsweetened liqueurs.
Bitters include two groups of spirits. One I call mixing bitters and one I call drinking bitters, although in reality, both are primarily used as ingredients in cocktails. Mixing bitters are usually sold as bitters and come in small bottles to be used by the drop or dash in cocktails. They include Angostura, Peychauds, orange bitters, etc. People often forget that these are spirits, as they are alcoholic (usually very high alcohol content, in fact). Drinking bitters usually come in full sized bottles, and, although it is not very popular, can be consumed on their own, or used as the base in a cocktail. These include Campari, Lillet, Fernet, etc. These are on the rise in current cocktail culture.
Absinthe I discuss in more detail
here.
Unsweetened liqueurs are essentially flavored spirits which either are not sweetened at all, or are not sweetened enough to be considered a liqueur. Although frequently sold with, and considered liqueurs, they are not
technically a liqueur. These are also gaining in popularity, as craft distilleries become more popular, and overly sweet cocktail go out of fashion in favor of more spirit forward drinks.
Questions? Have a favorite brandy or liqueur? Let me know in the comments!
