The Best Liqueurs

One of the most overlooked areas of alcoholic beverages is liqueurs. Liqueurs are high sugar alcoholic beverages that are often flavored with fruits, nuts, and a wide variety of herbs. They are often hidden ingredients in drinks that people don’t know that are part of what makes a drink taste a certain way. The amount of alcohol varies in each different brand, but usually is somewhere between 15% and 55%. Because liqueurs contain less alcohol than is typical, they often are mixed with normal drinks and the taste is masked.

I comprised the list below from the best liqueurs that I have had and the ones that most of you have heard of.

1) Kahlua

Kahlua is arguably one of the most famous liqueurs that everyone has heard of or tried before. It has a coffee taste and comes in a variety of different coffee flavors. The most famous cocktails that it is in are the B-52’s and White Russians. Other common drinks that Kahlua is often mixed with include milk and hot coffee.

-Made in Mexico

-20% alcohol by volume

2) Bailey’s Irish Cream

This is another one of the most well known names in the liqueur industry. Bailey’s is most associated with as an ingredient in an Irish Car Bomb. Other uses include coffee and on a variety of desserts.

-Made in Ireland

-17% alcohol by volume

3) Hynotiq

While many have not heard of this, Hynotiq has become quite popular with the younger generation. It is often consumed at bars and night clubs. It most often is not mixed with anything and drank straight.

-Made in the United States

-17% alcohol by volume

4) Limoncello

Limoncello is a well known dessert drink. Made in Italy, it is most famous for its sweet taste of lemon, but it is not sour due to a lack of lemon juice. It is most often consumed cold and straight.

-Made in Italy

-32% alcohol by volume

5) Goldschlager

Goldschlager is well known by the bottle alone, since it is clear and contains dozens of flecks of gold floating around inside. This is quite popular with the younger crowd, although has caught on with most people in recent years. It has a cinnamon taste and can either me mixed or consumed straight.

-Made in Italy

-43.5% alcohol by volume

6) Jagermeister

Jager is notorious worldwide and is another of the most popular liqueurs on the market. It is meant to be consumed cold, between 0 and 15 degrees and can be drank straight or in the form of a Jagerbomb, which is a shot of Jager dropped into a cup of Red Bull.

-Made in Germany

-35% alcohol by volume

These brands are the most well known, and in my opinion, the best tasting types of liqueurs out on the market. All are either key ingredients in drinks or are popular drinks themselves. Liqueurs have become increasingly popular in recent years, most likely due to the fact that they mix easier and have less alcohol than straight liquor, making them more drinkable to the average person. I recommend that everyone try the above listed ones and any other kind on the market that catches your eye.