Spirits

Spirits are beverages containing ethanol alcohol produced by distilling fermented grain, fruit, or vegetables. "Hard liquor" is an un-distilled beverage. A spirit has no added sugar and is at least 20 percent alcohol by volume. Popular spirits include brandy, fruit brandy, gin, rum, tequila, vodka and whiskey.

Distilled beverages with added sugar and flavorings are liqueurs. Examples include Grand Marnier, Frangelico and Schnapps. The distinction between spirit and liqueur is often unknown or ignored, but everyone recognizes that spirits include all alcoholic beverages other than beer and wine.

Aperitif	Aperitif is a usually bitter drink of aromatic fortified wine serves before meals to whet the appetite.
Gin	Gin is from the distillation of grain, barley or maize with the additional of juniper berries for flavor.
Vodka	A neutral spirit distilled from grain. Filtering through activated carbon to removes any taste of the spirits. Vodka is colorless, no aroma or taste, no flavored.
Rum	Rum is distilled from the fermented of sugar cane juice and sugar cane molasses. Dark Rum often has caramel added color.
Tequila	Mexican liquor, principally made from a cactus plant called Mescal, a special variety grown in the state of Jalisco.
Cognac	Brandy distilled from grapes grown in the Charente district of France. The principal city: is Cognac. Only brandies from this defined area are Cognacs. All Cognacs are brandy. Cognac takes on color from the tannic acid of the oak casks in which it matures
Armagnac	Armagnac is a brandy from the Gascony province of France. It is aged in Gascony oak cask.
Whisky	Distilled from a fermented mash of grain, usually corn, rye, barley or wheat and placed in oak barrels to age. At that time, it is colorless; it is during the aging process that whiskey obtains its characteristic amber color, flavour and aroma.
Scotch Whisky	Scotch Whisky uses predominantly barley grain. The smoky flavor comes from the peat fires to which the green barley malt has exposed.
Irish Whisky	Irish Whisky uses barley grain. Irish does not have the smoky flavor.
Canadian Whisky	Canadian Whisky is a blended Whisky made from rye, corn, and barley blended with neutral grain spirits. It is light in flavor and predominantly corn grain-blended whisky.
Bourbon Whisky	Bourbon Whisky – is made of several grains most predominantly of corn, about 60%, the balance is rye and barley.
Liqueur	Liqueur is the sweetened, flavored alcoholic drinks made by the additional of fruits, herbs, seeds and sugar.

The basic process of distillation has not changed since the 8th century. Freeze distillation also remained in limited use. Cider using freeze distillation produces applejack. There have been many changes in the methods used to prepare organic material for the still, and the ways the distilled beverage is finished and marketed. Knowledge of the principles of sanitation and access to standardized yeast strains have improved the quality of the base ingredient; larger, more efficient stills produce more product per square foot and reduce waste; ingredients such as corn, rice, and potatoes have been called into service as inexpensive replacements for traditional grains and fruit. For tequila, the blue agave plant is used. Chemists have discovered the scientific principles behind aging, and have devised ways to accelerate aging without introducing harsh flavors. Modern filters have allowed distillers to remove unwanted residue and produce smoother finished products.