A liqueur (US: or UK: ) is an alcoholic beverage made from a distilled spirit that has been flavoured with either fruit, cream, herbs, spices, flowers or nuts, and is bottled with added sugars and other sweeteners (such as high-fructose corn syrup ). Liqueurs are typically quite sweet ; they usually are not aged for long once the ingredients are mixed, and could have resting periods during the production process, which allow the flavours to mingle.
In the United States and Canada, where spirits are often called " liquor " (pronounced, with stress on the first syllable rather than the second ), there is often confusion discerning between liqueurs and liquors, due to the many different types of flavoured spirits that are available today (e.g. flavoured vodka ). Liqueurs generally contain a lower alcohol content (15–30% ABV) than spirits, while some can have an ABV as high as 55%.
In some parts of the United States and Canada, liqueurs may be referred to as cordials, or schnapps, which in most Commonwealth Nations, a cordial would refer to a non-alcoholic concentrated fruit syrup, that is diluted to taste, and consumed as a non-carbonated soft drink ; and schnapps, in places like Germany and Scandinavia, usually refers to a form of brandy or aquavit.
