🍸 Liqueurs
Liqueur is a sweetened spirit with herbs, fruit or nuts: from 15% vol., usually at least one hundred grams of sugar per litre.
A liqueur is a spirit drink made from alcohol or distillates, sweetened and flavoured with fruit, herbs or other products. Under EU rules (category 33) it has at least 15 % vol. and at least 100 g/l of sugar; for cherry liqueurs the figure is 70, for gentian and wormwood liqueurs 80.
The base — ethyl alcohol, a distillate or another spirit drink — is sweetened and flavoured by maceration, infusion or blending. Liqueurs of citrus fruit, pineapple, raspberry, blackcurrant, cherry, lingonberry, mint, aniseed, gentian or genepì may be flavoured only with natural substances. For cherry liqueurs the legal name may be guignolet or ginja, and for rum-based liqueurs punch au rhum.
Types: crème de… (category 34) needs at least 250 g/l of sugar, and crème de cassis more than 400 g/l; maraschino (37) is colourless, from 24 %; nocino (38) is made from green walnuts, from 30 %; pacharán (32) from sloes and aniseed, from 25 %; and sloe gin (35).
Protected names: Cassis de Dijon, Zadarski maraschino, Nocino di Modena, Pacharán navarro, Liquore di limone di Sorrento, Genepì and Irish Cream. Liqueur traditions are concentrated in France, Italy, Croatia and Spain.
Why it matters to you. “Crème de” contains no dairy — it only indicates the sugar level. “Cherry brandy” or “apricot brandy” on a liqueur are compound terms: in the glass it is a liqueur. A liqueur is always sweetened, and its strength starts at 15 %. WHO: no safe level of alcohol exists.
Other sections of this topic: Egg and cream liqueurs; Honey spirit drinks; Bitters and bitter spirits; Anise spirits; Fruit brandies; Grape brandies; Rum and sugarcane spirits; Mulled wine and fortified wines. All sections are gathered on the “Spirits” page.
Facts
| EU category | 33 (liqueur), 34 (crème de), 32 (pacharán), 35 (sloe gin), 37 (maraschino), 38 (nocino) |
|---|---|
| Alcohol (% vol.) | 15 % vol. (nocino — 30 %, maraschino — 24 %) |
| Raw material | alcohol or distillate, sugar, fruit, herbs, nuts |
| Country | France, Italy, Croatia, Spain, Ireland |
What it includes
How it connects to Spirits
🍸 Liqueurs → kind of → 🥃 Spirits
Links
- Next step
- 🍷 Alcoholic fermentation, 🍷 Yeast
- Made from
- 🥃 Brandy, 🥃 Cognac
- What it affects
- 🍷 Alcohol and health, 🍷 Drunk driving
- Traditions
- 🧑🤝🧑 French, 🧑🤝🧑 Italians
- Part of
- 🥃 Spirits
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Vermouth, 🍓 Geist, 🥃 Fruit spirit, 🌿 Pastis, 🍸 Berenburg, 🥃 Anis, 🌿 Sambuca, 🌼 Gentian spirit, 🍸 Bitter (bitter-tasting spirit drink), 🥃 Kirsch (Kirschwasser)
- In other topics
- 🥛 Cream
Frequently asked questions
How much sugar is in a liqueur under EU rules?
At least 100 g/l; for cherry liqueurs made with cherry distillate spirit 70 g/l; for gentian and wormwood liqueurs 80 g/l. Crème de… — at least 250 g/l, crème de cassis — over 400.
Is it true that “crème de cassis” contains cream?
No. For crème de… the raw materials exclude dairy products; “crème” only indicates a high sugar content (from 250 g/l), and blackcurrant is indicated by the word cassis.
Is it true that a liqueur is always weaker than 20 %?
No. The regulation sets only a minimum — 15 % vol., with no upper limit. Nocino has at least 30 %, and some liqueurs are stronger still.
What is nocino?
A liqueur from green walnuts (Juglans regia), obtained by maceration or maceration with distillation; at least 30 % vol. and 100 g/l of sugar. Nocino di Modena is a protected name.
How does a liqueur differ from a bitter?
A liqueur is always sweetened — at least 100 g/l of sugar (80 if only gentian or wormwood). A bitter is mainly bitter, from 15 % vol., with no mandatory minimum of sugar.
What to read next
- 🍷 Alcohol and health — Alcohol in any drink is harmful in large amounts, and the risks grow with the quantity.
- 🍷 Alcoholic fermentation — Yeast eats the sugar in the must and releases alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- 🍷 Yeast — Microscopic fungi that turn sugar into alcohol and gas.
- 🧑🤝🧑 Italians — The people of Italy; their cuisine rests on wine, olive oil and cheese, and in 2025 the country made 44.4 million hectolitres of wine, the most in the world.
- 🥃 Cognac — French AOC grape spirit from the Charente: double-distilled and aged at least 2 years in oak.
Similar
🌿 Anise spirits · 🌿 Bitters and bitter spirits · 🍎 Fruit brandies · 🍇 Pomace spirits · 🍇 Grape brandies · 🥚 Egg and cream liqueurs
⚠️ Spirit drinks contain alcohol and are for adults only. Alcohol harms health. Do not drink during pregnancy or before driving; check the label for ingredients and possible allergens.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2019/787 on spirit drinks (OJ L 130, 17.5.2019), Arts. 2, 3, 10–13 and Annexes I–III
- Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex III: list of geographical indications of spirit drinks (consolidated at 31.01.2020)