In the production of spirits and liquors, a multitude of ingredients come into play, which, thanks to their characteristics and organoleptic properties, create incomparable products. As a matter of fact, the production of liquors and spirits involves different manufacturing processes, as they belong to two very different categories of alcoholic beverages.
Sure enough, spirits production entails the distillation technique, which consists of the physical separation of the initial substances, while liquor production requires for the ingredients to be either mixed, infused or macerated. At the end of the day, though, they are highly alcoholic beverages whose main ingredient is alcohol. The other substances are usually from plant origin, such as fruit, cereals, herbs, seeds, and plants that manage to release particular scents and aromas during the drink preparation, giving the organoleptic properties everybody loves.
Let’s have a deeper look on the difference between liquors, liqueur, and spirits.
The difference between liquor, liqueur, and spirit
The general public very often tends to consider liquors, liqueurs, and spirits as the same or pretty similar beverages. The reality, though, is that these three are actually different beverages, despite having an elevated alcohol content in each case.
The first difference to make is between liquors and spirits, which is based on two parameters:
- production technique
- alcohol content
The liquor production technique is mixing. The ingredients are alcohol, aromas (such as grains, seeds, or molasses), and colourants or flavourings which, once mixed together, create the liquor. The second stage involves leaving the liquor to rest for a certain amount of time, ranging from months to years. As for the alcohol content, liquors present a content between 20 and 75.5°.
But… what is a liqueur then?
Liqueurs are alcoholic beverages that are made with added sugar and have added flavours that are usually derived from fruits, herbs, or nuts.
Their production is almost identical to the liquor production process, with the addition of sugar, fruits, herbs, and other flavouring elements, which are then filtered out after the maceration or infusion stage. Other than the ingredients, the main difference between liquors and liqueurs is that they have a different alcohol content, with the latter ranging between 15º and 55º.
The distillation process of spirits
On the other hand, we have distilled spirits, which are not produced by simply mixing but through, well, distillation.
The distillation process consists of a procedure where the liquids are physically separated, taking advantage of the different evaporation temperatures of the substances, causing the alcohol to evaporate first and then separate from the water. The aromatised alcohol vapour obtained is transformed back into a concentrated liquid. The alcohol content of spirits goes from 40º above.
The liquor production process
The production of liquor greatly differs from distillation, as it entails the mixing of alcohol, sugar, aromas, and colouring. Once exposed for a long period of time and in direct touch with alcohol, the fermented and macerated herbal flavours (such as fruit, herbs, spices, or plants) release their fine smells and precious flavours. Then, once all the ingredients are well-mixed, the solution is left to rest for months, or even years, before being consumed.
How alcohol is produced
The production of distilled spirits requires the water to be separated from the alcohol through specialised distillers. As a matter of fact, the distillation process takes advantage of the different boiling temperature of the two liquids: 78.4ºC for alcohol and 100ºC for water. By heating the whole solution, the flavoured alcohol will go through the vapour stage first, while the remaining water will be discarded. Now the vaporised alcohol with the flavouring substances is condensed again and transformed back into liquid.
Subsequent distillations can be applied to this new liquid in order to obtain a final product with the desired chemical concentration and organoleptic characteristics, separating the substances that are carried over by the vapours and that are not desirable in the final product.
