History of Cordials & Liqueurs

Compiled By Sveva la Lucciola

We know that flavored alcohols have been around since at least the 13^th c. The distillation of wine into aqua vitae and the subsequent flavoring of these spirits with various herbs and spices was written of by Catalan Arnold de Vila Nova (b. 1240) in his Boke of Wine. He and other alchemists believed in the restorative and life giving properties of these waters. One of his followers, Raymond Lully felt this so strongly, that he proclaimed their production was a divinely inspired gift from Heaven. These early liqueurs were considered alchemical potions, not necessarily pleasure drinks.

By the 14^th c., the drinking of these liqueurs had become very popular in Italy and had spread into France. Catherine de Medici, a native of Tuscany, is often credited with bringing them with her to France. There is, however, some evidence of an earlier diffusion of liqueurs, or an independent outgrowth of these drinks prior to their introduction by Catherine. But even if they were present before, the Court of Catherine certainly increased the popularity and acceptance of these drinks 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', given in 1605 to a Carthusian monastery near Paris by the Marechal d'Estrees, a captain under Henri IV. Recipes, too, for the herbal liqueurs of Aiguebelle, Carmeline, La Senancole, and Trappastine were also originally monastic elixirs (primarily Cistertian). However, not all production of liqueurs was limited to 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.

Cordials (and liqueurs) are simply flavored and often sweetened distilled alcoholic beverages. The word 'liqueur' is derived from the Latin liquefacere which means to melt or dissolve. This refers to the methods of flavoring the base alcohol.

Schnapps is the generic term for all white (clear) brandies distilled from fermented fruits. It's worth noting that true German schnapps is not what we get in the United States. The major American commercial brands are all heavily sweetened, and have added glycerine as well. If you want to try to capture the taste of a true schnapps, consider making an eau de vie.

Eau de vie in the context of liqueurs is a French expression for an unsweetened fruit brandy, very similar in nature to Schnapps. It has come to be used to mean an unsweetened liqueur as well, probably because of the similarity of taste and texture.

Contrary to the eau de vie, if you use a lot of sugar syrup, you're making a crème, which is usually a good dessert drink.

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 through percolation.

Bibliography

Kibbey, Heather and Long, Cheryl. How to Make a World of Liqueurs. Culinary Arts, Ltd., Portland Oregon,1986.

Meilach, Dona and Mel. Homemade Liqueurs. Contemporary Books, Inc., Chicago, 1979.