The Differences between Spirits and Liqueurs

Spirits are produced by concentrating the alcohol in a ferment liquid through distillation whereby liqueur is a spirit that has been sweetened and flavoured. The concentration of the alcohol is normally between 37% and 43% for spirits versus 12% for table wines. Liqueurs are often used in cocktails as a base, although, they used to be used as a form of medicine in their origination.

Typically, the bases for spirits are fruit, grain or vegetable, or any sugar-based liquid that can be fermented. In grain based spirits, the initial fermentation turns the starch to sugar to be fermented. Certain spirits can only be made with a certain base and others can be made with different bases. For example, Vodka can be made with a grain, potato or sugar cane base whereby Brandy can only be made with grapes.


Cognac, Armagnac, Brandy, Grappa, Piscos and Trebbiano are examples of grape based spirits from different regions, with different types of grapes as their base. Calvados is an apple based spirit known as applejack in North America.

Whisky and Scotch are grain based spirits, where Scotch whiskey is a whiskey that contains a blend of more than one distillation, typically malt whisky and grain whisky. A single malt scotch whisky is the original whiskey that was produced from barley and distilled.

Rum is the most popular distilled spirit and typically made wherever sugar cane is grown, which is the base or sometimes molasses may be used. Depending on the still method used, pot or patent determines whether it is white rum or darker.

Gin is typically a compounded spirit from Juniper, coriander, or citrus fruits and Schnapps is distilled from grain or potatoes and flavoured with caraway or aniseed.

Liqueurs generally fall into four categories, which are dairy liqueurs, bean or kernel liqueurs, herb liqueurs and fruit liqueurs. Liqueurs are more commonly known as names like Bailey’s Irish Cream, Crème de Menthe, Kahlua, Amaretto, Sloe Gin, Galliano, Southern Comfort or Grand Marnier, for example. These are popular liqueurs that are often used in cocktails, although they can also be drank by themselves.

The primary difference, when it comes to spirits and liqueurs is that they are the same, except for the added flavouring and sweetness that a liqueur is characterized by. When it comes to drinking, they carry higher alcohol content than wine and beer, because of the concentrated nature of the distillation or compounding processes. Typically, they are mixed with additional juices or flavouring to compliment their base.

Both spirits and liqueurs can be added to some dishes when cooking and Jack Daniels grill items are popular on many American menus, using a whisky based marinade or barbeque sauce. Another popular dish is Tequila lime chicken, which has international flair and popularity on Latino menus. The list is endless, but one thing for certain is that the popularity of spirits and liqueurs is international and personal tastes have a wide variety of products to choose from.




by: Derek Rogers