Liqueur
Cream liqueur, coffee liqueur, something with orange or perhaps herbs. Liqueur is the broadest category in the entire drinks cabinet. Read on to find out what it actually is and what kinds there are. Plus, what a sweet liqueur tastes like, how to drink it and which glass to choose.
The best-known liqueur brands
Four bottles from four different families. They're so well known that you'll find them in almost every bar.
Baileys
Irish whiskey, fresh cream, cocoa and vanilla. It was first made in 1974 and is still the world's best-selling liqueur. Serve it chilled and refrigerate the bottle after opening.
About Baileys →Cointreau
French orange liqueur, made with dried sweet and bitter peels and bottled at 40%. That makes it dry enough to take the lead in a Margarita or Cosmopolitan.
About Cointreau →Licor 43
Golden vanilla liqueur from Cartagena, made with forty-three ingredients. Drink it neat over ice or with milk. Add hot espresso and you have a Spanish Carajillo.
About Licor 43 →
Kahlúa
Mexican coffee liqueur dating back to 1936, made with Arabica beans, rum and vanilla. If you're looking for an espresso martini liqueur, this is the bottle. The White Russian depends on it, too.
About Kahlúa →Every liqueur, listed by brand
16 brands and 24 flavors, each with its own page about taste, cocktails, and the right glass.
Distilled, with sugar and flavor
Liqueur is a distilled drink with added sugar and flavor. That sounds vague, but the definition is precise. It must contain at least 15% alcohol and at least 100 grams of sugar per liter. If a bottle doesn't meet the sugar requirement, it's simply a distilled spirit, not a liqueur. That's why liqueurs can be so different yet still fall under one name. A 15% cream liqueur and a 40% whisky liqueur follow the same rules.
The base doesn't matter. It's usually neutral alcohol, but it can also be brandy, rum, whisky, or cognac. Grand Marnier is made with cognac, Drambuie with Scotch whisky, and Baileys with Irish whiskey. The flavor is then added by steeping, distilling, or mixing. That flavor gives each family its name. So there are cream liqueurs, coffee liqueurs, fruit liqueurs, herb liqueurs, orange liqueurs, and nut liqueurs. They're all sweet, but otherwise they have little in common.
Watch out for one family. Cream liqueur contains real cream, and cream spoils. So keep an opened bottle in the fridge, where it will last about six months. Liqueur without cream will keep for years in the cupboard, thanks to the sugar and alcohol. If a cream liqueur smells or tastes sour, or you see flakes floating in your glass, throw it away. And never mix cream with cola or orange juice, because the acid makes the cream curdle.
In brief
Six families you'll find on every shelf
Liqueurs are classified by what gives them their flavor. That also tells you how to drink them, how long they keep, and which cocktails they work in.
Cream liqueur
Real cream mixed with whiskey, rum or a fruit distillate. Smooth and full, sweet, with vanilla and cocoa. It’s the only family that really needs to be kept refrigerated after opening and doesn’t keep indefinitely.
Coffee liqueur
Roasted coffee with sugar, often with vanilla or rum, too. Dark and sweet, with a hint of bitterness from the coffee itself. No coffee liqueur means no Espresso Martini and no White Russian.
Fruit liqueur
By far the biggest family. Passion fruit, peach, coconut, strawberry, lemon or cherry. They taste richly of fruit and are usually low in alcohol. That’s why most people drink them as a long drink, with juice or sparkling water.
Orange liqueur
Dried peel from bitter and sweet oranges, usually in neutral alcohol or cognac. They’re stronger than most liqueurs, which is why they keep showing up in shaken classics.
Herbal liqueur
Herbs, roots, peels and often honey, too. Bittersweet and layered. On one end is an herbal bitter like Jägermeister; on the other, a whisky liqueur like Drambuie with heather honey.
Nut liqueur
Almond, hazelnut or walnut, often with notes of marzipan and apricot kernel. Sweet like a dessert. In a sour with lemon juice, that sweetness is surprisingly well balanced.
There are also chocolate, caramel, anise and egg liqueurs, as well as the bittersweet aperitifs from the Italian section.
Sweetness is the only constant
Distinctive and sweet
A liqueur smells like what it’s made from, and little else. Coffee, passion fruit, orange peel, almond or cream. You can barely smell the alcohol because there’s not much of it and the sugar masks it.
Full, smooth and syrupy
The sugar makes liqueur feel fuller in your mouth than unsweetened spirits. That’s also what it does in a cocktail. It adds flavor, but also body. Cream liqueur is the smoothest, orange liqueur the driest.
Lingers
Sugar preserves flavor, so the finish lingers longer than with gin or vodka. Herbal liqueurs finish with a hint of bitterness. Fruit liqueurs, on the other hand, leave a little tartness that cuts through the sweetness.
An average across the whole category. Cream liqueur scores higher on sweetness and lower on strength. An herbal or whisky liqueur at 40% scores around 4 for strength and around 1 for fruitiness.
Three ways to drink liqueur
You rarely finish a bottle of liqueur on your own. Drink it neat over ice, as a long drink, or as the sweet half of a cocktail. Any way works, as long as you keep the measure small.
Neat over ice
Pour 4 to 5 cl into a small stemmed glass, or over two large ice cubes in a tumbler. The cold makes it taste less sweet and much easier to drink. Serve cream liqueur chilled from the fridge. Herbal or whisky liqueur, on the other hand, is best savored at room temperature.
The right glass →As a long drink
Use 3 cl of fruit liqueur with about 15 cl of orange juice, pineapple juice, or sparkling water, in a highball glass filled with ice. That's how most people drink Safari, Passoã, and Malibu. Be careful with cream liqueur, as it curdles in orange juice and cola.
Malibu cocktails →In a cocktail
In a cocktail, liqueur is almost never the base. It adds flavor, 1 to 2.5 cl alongside the spirit. Cointreau does this in the Margarita and the Cosmopolitan, Kahlúa in the Espresso Martini, and Passoã in the Pornstar Martini.
Espresso Martini recipe →The best-known cocktails with liqueur
Almost every classic cocktail contains a liqueur. Often you barely notice it; sometimes it takes center stage. Start with these four.
Espresso Martini
Vodka, fresh espresso, and coffee liqueur, shaken hard for a layer of foam.
Margarita
Tequila, lime juice, and triple sec. The cocktail where the liqueur keeps everything balanced.
Pornstar Martini
Vanilla vodka, passion fruit and passion fruit liqueur, with a shot of prosecco on the side.
Sex on the Beach
Vodka, peach liqueur, orange juice, and cranberry. The long drink of the eighties.The right glass for liqueur
Serve it neat in a small stemmed glass. For drinks on the rocks, use a tumbler; for shaken cocktails, a coupe; and for fruity mixes, a long drink glass. These are the glasses we recommend ourselves.
Everything you still wanted to know about liqueur
Didn't find your question? Check out our cocktail recipes or get in touch.
To the cocktail recipes →What is the alcohol content of liqueur?
What is the difference between liqueur and regular spirits?
What types of liqueur are there?
Does liqueur need to be refrigerated?
How long does liqueur last after opening?
Which glass should you use for liqueur?
Buy liqueur
Want the bottle delivered straight to your door? Order liqueur online from Gall & Gall. Gall & Gall has 390 options, 49 of which are on sale.
Prices as of November 5, 2026, as reported by Gall & Gall. You can see the current price and stock at Gall & Gall. Glazen.nl receives a small commission if you buy something through these links; it costs you nothing extra. No 18, no alcohol.
