“Brandy,” remarked a nameless North American Indian in James G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough, “must be a decoction of hearts and tongues, because after drinking it I fear nothing, and I talk wonderfully.”
Indeed, brandy’s use as a medicine is prominent throughout its history, which some scholars trace back to the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans. It’s the chief ingredient in the 1683 booklet How to Live a Long and Healthy Life Without Sickness, written before the advent of recommending the use of tea or coffee in the morning to strengthen the stomach. Readers and users of the following recipes must decide for themselves when best to partake of these beneficent spirits. But they should at all costs try to avoid the excessive literalism of Charles the Bad, who met a terrible end in 1387. A servant held a candle a little too close to a brandy-soaked sheet that the invalid tyrant was wrapped in under doctor’s orders!
Of course, brandy isn’t the only alcoholic base to use in making liqueurs; vodka is more commonly used because of its neutral flavor. Nearly all the possible alcohol bases, however, share the distinction of being distilled from other substances — vodka from grain and brandy from distilling or “burning” wine. Our culinary predecessors called the latter result “spirit of wine,” or aqua vitae, the water of life. Doctor Louis Lemery in his Traite des Aliments wrote, “Since inflammable spirits have a slightly empyrheumatic taste, several compositions have been invented which have been given the name ratafia. They are nothing more than brandy or spirit of wine flavoured with a mixture of different ingredients.”
Some of the favorite ingredients around the time of Catherine de Medici (when liqueur drinking began to be popular among the nobility) were rose water, musk, aniseed, cinnamon, and raisins. The Italian rossolo, made from raisins and an aromatic plant of the drosera species, is still popular today as are many of the newer commercial brands.
Liqueurs are probably the preeminent concoction. To your favorite alcohol, almost any spice, herb, or fruit can be added. Thus, they should appeal to do-it-yourselfers everywhere. Making them seems to be one of those rare acts that inspires the imagination rather than depletes it; in that sense, these recipes may be seen as guidelines only.
There are only a few requirements for their proper enjoyment, one being the time to appreciate and fully savor whatever mixture results. Liqueurs are not to be chugalugged! Perhaps this accounts for their association with luxury. But as these recipes show, even that conclusion is fallacious. None of these suggestions require much time, only an understanding of the basic principle involved — pleasure. (A sweet tooth helps, but even sugar is optional in many of the recipes.)
Another requirement is other people. Liqueurs are a social drink; it’s safe to say that the solitary, mournful figure at the bar drowning his sorrows is not doing it over crème de menthe or pear brandy. It might be nice to experiment on your own, just to get the proper ratios, but there’s nothing quite like the excitement of unsuspecting guests after sampling your new recipe.
Use these recipes for holiday gatherings, Super Bowl parties, family dinners, or intimate tête-à-têtes. Liqueurs are the original love potions — so do use them. The satisfaction of creating new flavors will be its own reward.