Schnapps / Liqueur
Bernhard Tschirren
I was wondering if there is a difference between Schnapps and Liqueur?
Also, is Brandy a liqueur (eg, I have a recipe asking for Apricot
Brandy or other Apricot Liqueur ) What defines it as a Brandy, liqueur
or schnapps???
EG. I have recipes calling for:
Peppermint Liqueur
Peppermint Schnapps
Apricot Liqueur
Apricot Brandy
Apple Brandy
Apple Schnapps
and so on...
Thanx in advance.
Steff
(steff-t at geocities dot com)
Paul Knorr
Steff,
Generally, a liqueur is sweeter and lower in alcohol content than a
traditional schnapps (this is no longer the case with many new "schnapps").
Compare Rumplemintz to Creme de Menthe. One is a peppermint schnapps while the
other is a mint liqueur.
As for Apricot Brandy vs Liqueur, the difference is the "base" of the
liqueur. Apricot Brandy is made with a base of brandy with apricot flavoring
added (either naturally or artificially.) Apricot Liqueur has a vodka or other
neutral base, again with the flavoring added. The two are not interchangeable
since they have widely different flavors.
-Paul
Gunther W Anderson
: I was wondering if there is a difference between Schnapps and Liqueur?
: Also, is Brandy a liqueur (eg, I have a recipe asking for Apricot
: Brandy or other Apricot Liqueur ) What defines it as a Brandy, liqueur
: or schnapps???
: EG. I have recipes calling for:
: Peppermint Liqueur
: Peppermint Schnapps
: Apricot Liqueur
: Apricot Brandy
: Apple Brandy
: Apple Schnapps
It depends a little bit on who wrote the recipe. I discuss this a little
on my web page (shameless plug alert):
http://gunther.simplenet.com/liqueurs.htm
There's a short page about the difference between liqueurs and schnapps:
http://gunther.simplenet.com/liqueurs/schnapps.htm
But because I'm a nice guy (and it's not like I get money for people coming
to my web page anyway) I'll summarize and quote it here.
I was confused myself about the topic, until I got some e-mail out of the
blue from a fellow named Albert Grimm, a German man who understood Schnapps
from the point of view of a native. Basically, he said Schnapps "is the
generic term for all white (clear) brandies distilled from fermented fruits.
True Schnapps has no sugar added and is definitely an aquired taste,
particularly for nationalities not used to raw distillates."
That's what Schnapps is to the people who invented it. But we Americans
have warped the meaning. When you buy a commercial Schnapps in the USA
(DeKuyper's Peach Tree Schnapps comes to mind especially), you're much more
liely to find either a liqueur or a sweetened fruit brandy.
A liqueur is a flavoring dissolved in an existing distilled spirit, by the
way. Liquefacere, the Latin root of liqueur, means (I'm told) "dissolve".
So if I take peaches and steep them in vodka, I'm making a liqueur. If I
instead ferment those peaches, and then distill them, I've made peach
brandy (or peach Schnapps). If I sweeten that Schnapps, I've made the
American version. And there's a whole other class of objects in which you
distill a spirit in the presence of a flavoring. i.e. Start with grain
mash, and ferment it, and then toss in some honeydew melons during
fermentation. You come up with Midori. But I don't know what to call the
process.
OK, so now it seems that I've muddied the waters even further. But as for
the difference between liqueurs and Schnapps, my information is correct.
Now, about those recipes - it depends. Many people routinely misuse these
terms, so it's hard to say. When something asks for "brandy", I'd give it
brandy. But if it's an American recipe asking for Schnapps, go to the
liquor store and see who's making Schnapps. It's fairly likely that you'll
be looking at one of the sweetened things, for which a liqueur is a decent
substitute. But if it's a German or a French recipe, it's more likely to
me a true, unsweetened Schnapps.
Finally, if you're making your own liqueurs, you can fake the taste of a
true schnapps by omitting the sweetening entirely. As Albert said, it
_is_ an acquired taste.
Gunther Anderson
Gunther W Anderson
: As for Apricot Brandy vs Liqueur, the difference is the "base" of the
: liqueur. Apricot Brandy is made with a base of brandy with apricot flavoring
: added (either naturally or artificially.) Apricot Liqueur has a vodka or other
: neutral base, again with the flavoring added. The two are not interchangeable
: since they have widely different flavors.
OK, that's another way of looking at it. What you describe above as Apricot
Brandy, I would have technically called Apricot Liqueur with a Brandy base.
But it's just another example of the imprecision of the terms (not only as
used by the general public, but as used by technicians as well). The thing
we call "brandy" is a distilled grape wine. But it's also possible to
distill other fruit wines, and make other-fruit brandies. And then it's
possible to "brandy" a fruit by soaking it in grape-wine brandy, making a
liqueur with a base other than vodka.
Oh, well. Just another possible way of getting confused...
Gunther Anderson
DrCocktail
>
>: I was wondering if there is a difference between Schnapps and Liqueur?
>: Also, is Brandy a liqueur (eg, I have a recipe asking for Apricot
>: Brandy or other Apricot Liqueur ) What defines it as a Brandy, liqueur
>: or schnapps???
I'll weigh in on this one in a different way:
IF we are talking modern liqueurs of the varieties we get here in America, the
variations include-
(fruit) flavored brandy - They added the "flavored" line after Prohibition
specifically BECAUSE of the confusion between the liqueurs (unaged grape brandy
base with fruit flavoring and sugar sweetening) and the eaux de vie.
Nonetheless, the confusion continues to this day. The modern (fruit) flavored
brandy has a proof of 70 to 60.
(fruit) Liqueur (or in some cases "cordial") -
Neutral spirit-based and generally around 50 proof.
(fruit) schnapps - This really has nothing to do with classic schnapps any more
than a chocolate martini has anything to do with a REAL Martini. The liqueurs
by this name are predominantly the LOWEST in proof of all liqueurs, weighing in
at around 40 proof.
Now none of this is set in stone. These are the standards for domestic liqueurs
available today, but at least 2 schnapps/liqueurs leap to mind with proofs of
100. In both cases they are not fruit but spice schnapps liqueurs. Your average
peach or blueberry schnapps will tend to be in the 40 proof range as I said.
Usually recipes calling for (fruit) LIQUEUR are leaving your options open with
the most generic designation. If it calls for (fruit) schnapps, use that. If it
calls for (fruit) BRANDY....... it's really quite easy to play chemist and
determine which (the liqueur or the eau de vie) would make the drink better. It
is a rare case indeed when either one would work in a cocktail recipe because
they are so different. Bar guides have improved a lot in the past few years at
saying what they really mean, too. --Doc.
DrCoc...@aol.com Cocktail Historian and archivist. Host of the AOL Spirits
Boards. Rabid bibliophile. Hear dance band music 1926-1949 through a
microphonic cerebrum. My other computer is a Univac.
DrCocktail
Timo A. Nieminen
>
> I was wondering if there is a difference between Schnapps and Liqueur?
> Also, is Brandy a liqueur (eg, I have a recipe asking for Apricot
> Brandy or other Apricot Liqueur ) What defines it as a Brandy, liqueur
> or schnapps???
Properly speaking, a brandy is distilled from fermented fruit (grapes
being the usual). Thus, Calvados and applejack are apple brandies, and
there are other distilled fruit brandies as well. I think that in the
EC, this type of drink is the only thing that can be labelled "brandy".
However, outside Europe, a lot of drinks labelled as fruit brandies are
fruit liqueurs, often made from a base of grape brandy, otherwise
neutral spirit is used. With these drinks, fruit flavouring is added to
the base spirit, also sugar, colouring etc is usually added. Drinks made
by adding flavouring to a base spirit are liqueurs.
Many drinks labelled as schnapps are liqueurs, too. Traditional schnapps
is a potent white spirit, pretty much like a robust-tasting vodka; the
ones I have seen have mostly been made from grain, and have been 35-40%
alcohol.
Timo
--
Timo Nieminen - ti...@physics.uq.edu.au
Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/nieminen.html
Shrine to Spirits - Info and reviews - vodka, rum, whiskey, gin etc:
http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/spirits.html