8 Liqueurs to Warm Up The Winter

Spice Up Your Favorite Warming Drinks

There’s nothing quite like a fine liqueur to put some heat in the winter, spice up the atmosphere, and introduce another dimension to the warming drinks you already make yourself: hot tea, apple cider, hot chocolate, coffee, etc. Hot drinks enhanced with elegant spirits can take your daily beverages to a new place and also make great aperitifs before a meal, are delicious as a dessert, or immediately following dessert.

1. Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey

Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey

The Jack Daniels distillery has created a soft kind of honey liquor combined with their basic whiskey, Old No. 7, creating a fusion true to the developing trend of making whiskey with flavors.  The result: a refined drink which maintains the roughness of whiskey with a distinguished aftertaste.

Try over ice cubes or mixed in with with apple juice or hot cider.

Retails around $20/750ml bottle

2. Saint Germain

Saint Germain

This liqueur is produced with black elderberry flowers from hillsides in the French Alps that bloom just one month during the spring. The fresh flowers are handpicked and delivered by bicycle to a collection depot where they undergo a complex rapid extraction process, soak with distilled grape varieties of Chardonnay, and are then sweetened with Caribbean cane sugar.

The result: a very fine liqueur, with a restrained sweetness, dominated by flavors of pear, lychee and, of course Elderflowers.  Try combined with vodka or on the bottom of a glass of champagne, magnifique!

Retails around $35/750ml bottle

3. Gabriel Boudier: Creme de Cassis

Gabriel Boudier- Creme de Cassis

This is a sweet dark red liqueur made from black currants with a beautiful thick texture, great color, and acidity.  It dates back to the 16th century, first produced by monks in France as a cure for snakebites, jaundice, and wretchedness.

Mixed with white wine it creates a popular drink called a ‘Kir,’ named for it’s inventor Canon Felix Kir, 1945 mayor of Dijon, France. Some versions of the drink use champagne, burgundy, or sparkling wines instead of white wine.  It’s also tasty mixed with peach liquor or as a dessert topping with fresh berries over ice-cream and angel food cake!

Retails around $26/750ml bottle

4. La Belle Sandrine

La Belle Sandrine

A smooth and sweet French liqueur produced with fresh passion fruit in a base of Armagnac, the oldest French brandy. Production and success began in the 14th century and it is touted as a perfectly balanced blend of exotic fruit with the strength of one of the world’s most elite fine alcohols.

It can be sipped anytime of the day or night but it is recommended to be served chilled over ice in order to fully appreciate it’s flavor and subtleties.

Retails for around $288 if you can find it in the US/700ml bottle

5.  Cointreau

Cointreau

Also known as triple-sec this orange liqueur is made from a blend of sweet and bitter orange peels harvested from all over the world: the Middle East, Spain, Brazil, Africa, and the Caribbean. Sent to France the sun-dried skins are put through an aromatic extraction process whose methods and recipe remain a family secret.

Served over ice or as an ingredient in several mixed drinks it’s also great for those who like to add this sweet orange aroma to desserts and food in general.

Retails around $35/750ml bottle

6. Barenjager

Barenjager

The origins of this liqueur come from Germany where the first variations were developed by the “Barenjagers” or bear-hunters of medieval Europe. By the 15th century this popular mead-like “moonshine” had spread and was being made by many people.

Currently Barenjager liqueur is produced in Germany and made with an exotic dark and aromatic honey from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It’s combined with other “secret” ingredients in a vodka base. Use it to strengthen the beauty of your warm winter tea. 

Retails for about $28/750ml bottle

7. Cherry Heering

Cherry Heering

A thick and sweet liqueur invented by the Danish merchant Peter Heering in 1818. It became hugely popular in the courts of the Queen of England, Elizabeth II and the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II. Let’s just say that what is good for them must be good for us!

This world famous cherry liqueur is produced with fresh Danish grown cherries and all natural spices, with no additives or colors. It is then aged in wooden casks a minimum of 5  years giving it a full body, dark ruby red color, and aroma of hot spices. Swirl over ice and sip or elevate any pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice and every hot sangria drink to be fit for a queen!

Retails for around $30-$35/750ml bottle

8. Bols: Sour Apple

Bols Sour Apple

This popular sour apple liqueur is surprisingly refreshing. A tangy sweet and sour liqueur it has the full taste of fresh green apples with undertones of woody cinnamon. Try mixing it with vodka and a butterscotch liqueur, made by the same company. Also goes great in a glass of bourbon on the rocks.

The Bols Dutch liqueurs company also produces a variety of other flavors with distinctive colors, natural aromas, and thick textures, making it possible to mix and play with different varieties that result in winning cocktails.

Retails around $10/liter

by Erica McMillan

Out of curiosity and necessity I have become accustomed to wearing many hats in life. The latest hat in my collection is as owner/publisher/author/photographer/videographer for Marquette Magazine. Among other things I am a doula, certified breastfeeding counselor, NMU student, and mother of 5... whew, I'm getting tired just writing that...

Facebook Website