Drink of the Month, October 2012 – Liqueurs | Kel's Cafe of All Things Food

In honor of National Liqueur Day, which is October 16th, I decided to look in my liquor cabinet to see what I had on hand to make a celebratory drink. Oh my, I had no idea I had so many different types of liqueurs. I guess I will blame (or, should I say, thank) this blog – over the past year I’ve collected quite a few bottles.

I think Brad was surprised about all of the liqueurs we have as well. Bless his heart, he decided to take one for the blog and try out all of them so he would have an informed opinion on what he liked the best. Thank you, honey, although I had a feeling which liqueur was his favorite* before he even started (it’s one of mine as well.)

Mr. Boston’s Official Bartender’s Guide states that “… liqueur and cordial are synonymous, describing liquors made by mixing or redistilling neutral spirits … with fruits, flowers, herbs, seeds, roots, plants or juices to which sweetening has been added. Practically all liqueurs are sweet and colorful, with highly concentrated, dessertlike flavor.” The alcoholic content of liqueurs usually ranges from about 24 to 60 proof, but can reach 100 proof.

Last year I bought some 99 Apples Schnapps to make an Appletini to honor this occasion as well as National Apple month. This year I decided to make a couple of drinks using only what I had on hand and only liqueurs – no mixers or other liquors. I wound up with a shot known as an Apache and a drink served on the rocks called Chocolate Luv, both of which I found at: www.barnonedrinks.com, a great website that has tons of recipes and cocktail information.

The Apache calls for equal parts (1/3 oz. each) of Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish Crème and Midori. You’re supposed to layer each liqueur and start with the Kahlua. I did okay when I added the Bailey’s since I used the back of a spoon to slowly pour it on top of the Kahlua. I had no such luck with keeping the Midori separate, even on two tries. I decided to just mix all three liqueurs together in a shaker full of ice and then strain it back in the shot glass. Probably not as pretty as intended, but still damn good and so much better cold!

I am renaming the Chocolate Luv liqueur recipe to Chocolate Raspberry Heaven in a Glass, which better captures the awesomeness of this drink. Wow! I think I’d rather have this than some Death-by-Chocolate dessert (OK, I’d like to have both.) I did change the proportions of this some from the original recipe to better suit my tastes and the size of my glass.

1 ½ oz. Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
¾ oz. Chambord
1 oz. Bailey’s Irish Crème
1 oz. Kahlua

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Mix all of the liqueurs in a drink shaker and pour over the ice. Sit back, sip and go to chocolate nirvana.

Here are some other cocktails containing liqueur that I have previously blogged about – all are worthy to celebrate National Liqueur Day! Just click on the name of each drink to get the recipe.

Melon Margaritas