Aaalborg™: The most popular Danish brand of aquavit. See Aquavit

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Abricotine: A French term for apricot brandy. See Apricot Brandy See Liquor Quik Essences - Apricot Brandy    See Liquor Quik Products

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Absinthe: An obsolete, highly alcoholic, French pastis that once contained poisonous amounts of wormwood. See Pastis

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Absolut™: The most popular brand of Swedish vodka in the world, made from rye. See Vodka

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Absolut Mandarin: A madarin flavored vodka made in Sweden. 40 per cent alcohol by volume

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Absolut Pepper Vodka:   A pepper flavored vodka made in Sweden. 40 per cent alcohol by volume  See Vodka

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Ackerman Champagne: A brand of Champagne

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Advocaat:  A Dutch specialty liqueur, similar to egg nog, but without the milk. It is made with grape brandy, egg yolks and sugar, usually to 17% alcohol. Sometimes it is also flavored with vanilla, oranges, lemons or cherries. It is both served as an aperitif and digestif. It is often served with whole milk and a sprinkling of nutmeg.

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Aguadiente: The Spanish term for marc grape distillate. See Marc

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Ainse:  A plant growing in the Mediterranean basin, with licorice-flavored seeds.

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Akvavit: The Scandinavian term for Aquavit See Aquavit

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Alambic: The term for American and Canadian brandies, mostly made in California and Niagara, so named because of the type of stills used. See Brandy

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Alcool™:  A popular French-Canadian grain distillate, bottled at 40% or 97% alcohol. See Grain Alcohol

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Alcool Blanc:  An alternate French term for a group of colorless fruit distillates

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Alcohol, Ethyl:  A popular term for ethanol. See Grain Alcohol

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Alize: A passion fruit flavored liqueur. You can also find Alize Red Passion with cranberry juice added

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Aliziergeist™:  A popular French eau de vie made from various fruits

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Allied Domecq™:  One of the largest alcohol beverage conglomerates in the world, famous for its whiskeys, gins and ports.

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Almond Extract:  A bittersweet flavoring made of concentrated essence of almonds and usually used in baking

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Almond Liqueur: The common term for a sweetened nut liqueur made from almonds. They usually contain 24-25% alcohol, use a neutral distillate as their base and are infused with crushed nuts over a period of time rather than just flavored with a fruit or essence.

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Amaretto: The most popular almond flavored liqueur in the world. It derives its unique flavor from the addition of apricot pits and it usually bottled at 28% alcohol. The Italians make the best. See Liquor Quik Essences - Amaretto   See Liquor Quik Products

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Amarula™:  A popular South African cream liqueur made from the marsula fruit. See Cream Liqueur

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Amber Rum:   Rum that has an amber color, a result from an aging process and a caramel  See Liquor Quik Products

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Amer Picon™:  One of the most popular French brand of bitters. See Bitters.

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American Cream Liqueur: A cream liqueur made with grain neutral spirits and brandy by the Heublein Co. (34 proof) proof.

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Angostura™: The most popular brand of cocktail flavoring bitter, containing rum and gentian. See Bitters and See Gentian Liqueur.

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Anis:   A aniseed (anise berries, star anise or licorice) flavored liqueur mostly made in France and Spain. It is made either sweetened or dry and is usually made up to 25% alcohol. Although similar to Pastis, another French aniseed based drink, Pastis has a much higher alcohol, usually 40-45% alcohol. See Pastis.

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Annisette:  A sweetened, French version of Anis. See Anis.

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Aperitif: The term for taking a liqueur, spirit or fortified wine drink before the main meal to stimulate the appetite.

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Apfel Schnapps: The German term for calvados (apple brandy). See Calvados.

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Applejack: The American term for calvados (apple brandy). See Calvados.

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Apple Brandy: The generic term for calvados (apple brandy). See Calvados.

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Apple Cider:   Fermented apple juice

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Appleton™:  One of the most popular brands of Jamaican rums. See Rum.

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Apricot Brandy:   One of the three classic French brandies made from the fruit and pips of the apricot. Usually fermented to 20-24% alcohol. See Liqueur Brandies.  See Liquor Quik Essences - Apricot Brandy    See Liquor Quik Products

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Apry:  A French term for apricot brandy.

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Aquavit: The most popular spirit in Scandinavian countries, more commonly known as akvavit or schnapps (schnapps, snaps). It is a colorless distillate made from grain or potatoes and may be flavored with a variety of spices such as aniseed, coriander seeds, fennel seed, dill, cumin seeds, caraway seeds or bitter orange rinds and usually bottled at 40-45% alcohol. Also See Kummel See Goldwasser, See Gin. How to serve: Aquavit should be served like good vodka, "ice-cold and neat" from a receptacle no bigger than a shot glass. The bottle should be kept in the freezer, prior to serving. It makes a superb wintertime apertif, especially for guests who have just come in from the cold.

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Aqua Vitae:  An old Latin term for whisky and other distillates. See Whiskey.

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Arak: Also known as Arrack, Arraki, Racki, Rakija. This is group of (usually) colorless distillates made from sugar cane juice or rice. They are very popular in the Middle East and the South Pacific and to a lesser degree in the Balkans. They may be flavored with figs, dates, grapes, raisins or plums and are usually bottled at 40-50% alcohol.  How to serve: Arak should be drunk in fairly abstemious measures.  Owing to its rough potency, arak is not generally served chilled, and it is safer to sip it appreciatively.

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Argentarium™:  A popular Italian local orange brandy made by monks. See Orange Brandy.   See Liquor Quik Essences - Orange Brandy

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Armagnac™ The specific term for a distilled and cask-aged grape distillate from the Armagnac region of France. Armagnacs are continuous distilled from local fermented grapes and aged in black oak for a period of 2-35 years or more. They are bottled at 40-42% alcohol and classified youngest to oldest: 1) VS, 3 stars (2-5 years old); VSOP, 5 stars (5-6 years old), XO, also known as Reserve, Extra, Cordon Bleu, Paradis or Napoleon (6 years and up). Once bottled, Armagnac, like most spirits do not age in the bottle. Also See Brandy and See Cognac.

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Arrack:  A Middle Eastern term for Arak. See Arak.

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Arraki:  A Middle Eastern term for Arak. See Arak.

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Aurum™: The most popular brand of Italian orange brandy. See Orange Brandy.   See Liquor Quik Essences - Orange Brandy

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Australian Muscats:  A very rich, strong, cask-aged fortified muscat made in northwest Australia up to 20% alcohol. Also See Muscat.

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Avalanche Peppermint Schnapps:   It is an 80 proof peppermint schnapps, blue in color and with sugar crystals in the bottom of the bottle

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Awein:  A Russian term for a specialty vodka distilled from milk.

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