Information About Liqueurs Is At The End Of This Page.

Liqueurs, or cordials, as they are also known, are flavored and often sweetened distilled alcoholic beverages. Although these beverages are of more recent origin than that of the other beverages which we have so far examined they are still well within our proper period of study.

History of Liqueurs and Cordials

Among the earliest writings on the subject of flavored alcohols are those of the Catalan Arnold de Vila Nova, an alchemist in Spain and France who was born in 1240. He wrote, in The Boke of Wine, of the distillation of wine into aqua vitae and the subsequent flavoring of these spirits with various herbs and spices.  He especially wrote of the restorative and life giving properties of these waters. It was the firm belief of Raymond Lully, a student of de Vila Nova's that so vital and life restoring were these waters, their production was a divinely inspired gift from Heaven.

It was primarily among the alchemists of this early date, however, that these waters became known. It remained for a later period for these beverages to be much used as pleasurable drinks and not as alchemical potions. By the fourteenth century, however, the drinking of these liqueurs had become popular in Italy and spread into France. This popularity is often attributed to Catherine de Medici, who, along with her Court, brought the use of these liqueurs with her to France from her native Tuscany.  There is, however, some evidence of an earlier diffusion of liqueurs, or an independent outgrowth of these drinks prior to their introduc- tion by Catherine. There can be little doubt, however, that the Court of Catherine certainly increased the popularity and accep- tance of these potables among the nobility of France.

Between the fourteenth century and the early seventeenth century considerable production of these liqueurs was from the alchemists and the monastic orders.  Benedictine, as the name indicates dates to the Benedictine monk Dom Bernardo Vincelli, in the Abbey of Fecamp about the year 1510.  The recipe for Chartreuse was originally an 'Elixir de longue Vie' (an elixir of long life), given in 1605 to a Carthusian monastery near Paris by the Marechal d'Estrees, a captain under Henri IV.  Cusenier Mazarine, a French Anise liqueur, dates to a 1637 recipe of the Abbaye de Montbenoit.  Recipes, too, for the herbal liqueurs of Aiguebelle, Carmeline, La Senancole, and Trappastine were also originally monastic elixirs (primarily Cistertian).  It would be a mistake, however, to claim that the total production of liqueurs was limited to these monasteries. By the middle to the end of the sixteenth century several distilleries had been formed which were producing commercial quantities of liqueurs. These included the Dutch distillery of Bols, founded in 1575 and Der Lachs, a German distillery which began producing Danzig Goldwasser in 1598. The first of the liqueurs produced by Bols was an anisette liqueur on which they began production shortly after the founding of the distillery.

How Liqueurs and Cordials are Made

The word 'liqueur' is derived from the Latin liquefacere which means 'to melt, or disolve'.   This refers to the methods of flavoring the brandy or whisky which forms the base of the liqueur. There are several methods of obtaining the flavor from the fruits and spices. They are maceration, distillation and percolation.  The final result of any of these methods, however, is that the flavor of the spice or fruit is dissolved into the alcoholic base. The choice of method used depends on the source from which the flavor is being extracted and on the particular flavor desired from the flavoring agent. Some flavoring agents will yield different flavors, depending on the type of extraction used.

Maceration refers to the steeping of the aromatic/flavoring agent which has usually been bruised in water or alcohol for a period of time in order to extract an essence from it. This essence, then, is added to the base as the flavoring agent.

Distillation refers to the distillation of the desired flavoring agent which has already been mascerated. This is often repeated many times with large amounts of the flavoring agent and reduced to a relatively small amount of liquid. This produces a very strong essence to be added to the bulk of the alcohol base.

In percolation either water or the alcoholic base is allowed to drip though the flavoring agents or, it is heated and the steam passed through the agent prior to recondensing.

It should be fairly obvious from the above descriptions of the methods used, that some would be more suitable than others for extracting the flavor from a particular source. A juicy fruit could easily undergo maceration, providing a juice that could be added to the base. It should be noted at this juncture, however, that citrus liqueurs, which were common (oranges having worked their way from the Orient to Spain by the ninth century), were not made from the citrus juice, but from the oils and flavorings extracted from the rind of the fruit, generally though percolation. Distillation or percolation are quite suited to extracting the flavors from harder and drier sources, such as many spices, or from skins of certain fruits.

Even when using the same general method, different flavors can still be extracted from the same flavoring agent. With distilla- tion or percolation as the method of extraction, a very different flavor will be produced if the base liquid is water than will be achieved if an alcoholic base is used.  In many spices, a much more bitter and astringent flavor will ensue from the use of an alcoholic base as opposed to one of water.  Depending on tastes and the type of liqueur desired this may, or may not be desirable and the choice of a base liquid should, therefore, be carefully considered.

Once an aromatized base has been prepared by one of the above methods, or by a combination of these methods (if several different aromatic/flavor sources are used, different methods for the extraction of these essences may well be a necessity) the remaining steps in the production of the finished liqueur are set forth in Hannum's book Brandies and Liqueurs of the World as follows:

     * The mixing of the final blend of aromatized bases and 
       if necessary, ageing.
     * The mixing of the aromatized base with the desired alcohol
       and any desired sugar and/or water. 
     * A generally short period of ageing to rest the final product
       and allow the marrying of the aromatics to the alcohol.
     * Coloration.
     * Cold stabilizing.
     * Bottling.

Please note that for the purposes of our study within the Medieval framework, coloration and cold stabilization are not applicable. All coloration would generally have been provided, within our period of study, by the aromatic and flavoring agents which were used in the liqueur's preparation. Cold stabilization is a technique too modern for our studies. The remainder of the steps outlined above, however, are virtually unchanged from the time of our study and comprise all of the steps required in producing flavored and aromatic liqueurs.