General Cordials & Liqueurs Lesson

WHAT ARE CORDIALS?

Cordials are obtained by making or redistilling neutral spirits, brandy, gin or other distilled spirits with, or over fruit, flowers, plants (or pure juices from these ingredients), other natural flavoring materials or with extract derived from such materials.

According to the Federal code, the words “cordial” and “liqueur” are synonymous. But, no matter which name is used, cordials must contain a minimum of 2-1/2% sugar by weight of the finished product - most cordials contain more, up to 40%.

Cordials have their beginning in the Middle Ages, when monks of various religious denominations were searching for the “elixir of life.,” This activity brought about the commercial production of cordials, which, in turn, has developed many of the well-known products enjoyed today.

Many cordials have romantic tales attached to them. The work “cordial” is related to “cardiac,” the Latin word for “heart,” source of romance and love in medieval days.

HOW CORDIALS ARE MADE

Cordials are produced today whenever distilled spirits are produced. The countries that produced the best known, most sought after cordials are France and Italy. These two countries produce such highly regarded (and secret) preparations as Chartreuse, Benedictine, Galliano, Strega and Grand Marnier.

Other countries producing well-known cordials include Mexico (Kahlua), Scotland (Drambuie), Ireland (Irish Mist), Germany (Kirschwasser) and the US. The US. produces a great variety of cordials under the brand names of several companies.

The three basic methods of production are percolation, maceration and distillation. One or more of these processes may be used to produce a cordial.

Percolation is a similar to the method used to prepare coffee. In this case, the percolator is a large tank. Spirits are placed at the bottom and fruit put in a basket-like container at the top of the tank or suspended in cloth bags. The spirits at the bottom are then pumped to the top where they are sprayed over the fruit and drip back to the bottom. This process is repeated until all the flavor has been extracted from the fruit.

Maceration is like the brewing of tea. By this method, the fruit or other flavoring is placed directly into the spirits and allowed to steep until all the flavor has been extracted from the fruit.

One of these steps is usually the beginning for most cordials. After the flavors have been extracted by these methods, the heavily flavored spirits are redistilled, resulting in the delicacy of flavor desired by the maker.

Then, there is the distillation method. For some products, this method is used alone. The leaves, peels, etc., are placed in the still, covered with an alcoholic spirit and distilled. The distillate carries the flavor of the various ingredients. When finished, it is quite high in proof. This is then reduced with the addition of syrup and adjusted to bottling proof.