Alcohol Category

This is a crème liqueur that has a raspberry flavor.

This is a crème liqueur that's flavored with sour Morello cherries

This is a crème liqueur that has a mandarin orange flavor.

This is a crème liqueur that has a peppermint flavor. It's used to make several mixed drinks, but many people like it all by itself as an after-dinner drink. Sometimes it's clear, but more often green, gold, or red food coloring is added.

This is a crème liqueur that's flavored with blackberries.

This is a crème liqueur that's flavored with blueberries.

This is a crème liqueur that has a walnut flavor.

This is a crème liqueur that has an almond flavor.

This is a crème liqueur that's flavored with peaches.

This is a crème liqueur that's flavored with sloe berries.

This is a crème liqueur that's flavored with roses.

This is a crème liqueur that has a vanilla flavor.

This is a crème liqueur that's flavored with violets. Crème d'Yvette = creme d'Yvette is a very sweet American brand.

Despite the name, crème liqueurs contain no cream. Instead, they're liqueurs that have been heavily sweetened and have a thick, syrupy consistency. Don't confuse them with Irish cream liqueurs, which really are made with cream.

Curaçao is an liqueur made from orange peels. It comes in blue, orange, red, green, and clear versions that all taste exactly the same. To make your own colored version, add one or two drops of food coloring to a cup of clear liqueur.

This is a syrupy Italian liqueur that's made with artichokes, giving it a bittersweet flavor. It's good mixed with club soda

Dark rum has a strong molasses flavor, and it's much heavier than white or amber rums. It's used to make Planter's Punch, but many people like to drink the expensive stuff neat. The best dark rum is made in Jamaica, but Martinique, Cuba, and Haiti are also important producers. Myers is a popular brand.

These aren't as flavorful as ordinary wine, but they're a good choice for people who want to drink wine without consuming alcohol. Sparkling wines are the most popular de-alcoholized wines, but other varieties are also available. Many brands contain small amounts of alcohol.

This dark, heavy rum comes from Demerara River region in Guyana. It's often used to make Zombies.

These are sweet wines that are served with (or instead of) dessert. Examples include fortified wines like port and sherry, and late harvest wines, which are made from grapes that have shriveled a bit, concentrating their sweetness. As a rule of thumb, a dessert wine should always be sweeter than the dessert it accompanies.

This refers either to beer that's stored in a keg or to unpasteurized beer in bottles or cans

This is a Scottish liqueur made with Scotch, honey, and various herbs.

Dry means "not sweet", and this popular style of vermouth is used to make many cocktails, including the martini.

This is a French apéritif made with white or red wine and flavored with quinine and other herbs and spices. The white version is drier than the red

This is a famous Italian brand of bitters that's supposed to ease hangovers. It's flavored with over 40 herbs and spices. Branca Menta is a mint-flavored version.

These liqueurs are flavored with flowers. Examples include crème de violette and crème de rose.

These are wines that have been fortified with brandy and sometimes flavored with herbs, roots, peels, and spices. The most popular examples are sherry, Madeira, Marsala, port, and vermouth. Fortified wines are often used in cooking, or they're served as apéritifs or dessert wines.

This is a clear French fruit brandy that's made with raspberries. Don't confuse this with framboise liqueur, which is sweeter, or with framboise syrup, which is a non-alcoholic raspberry flavoring.

This is a popular brand of hazelnut liqueur.

This is a variety of grape that's often made into white jug wine.

While other brandies are distilled from fruit juice, fruit brandies are distilled from the entire fruit--skins, pits, and all. They're usually colorless, and fairly high in alcohol. Varieties include apricot brandy, plum brandy, kirschwasser (cherries), framboise (raspberries), fraise (strawberries), grappa (grapes), pisco (Muscatel grapes), mure (blackberries), and myrtille (bilberries). Don't confuse fruit brandies with the cheaper and cloyingly sweet fruit-flavored brandies.

This is wine made from fruit other than grapes.

This is brandy that has fruit flavoring and coloring added. Don't confuse these sweet liqueurs with the more elegant and expensive fruit brandy, which is distilled from whole fruit

This excellent Italian liqueur is flavored with anise and comes in a bottle that's one inch taller than your liquor cabinet. It's used to make Harvey Wallbangers and other cocktails.

This name is given to American red wines made mostly from Pinot Noir and Valdiguie grapes. It's an unexceptional fruity wine that goes best with hearty dishes that have rich sauces. Don't confuse this wine with Gamay or Napa Gamay, both of which are superior. The name Gamay Beaujolais is scheduled to be phased out by 2007.

This name is given to American red wines made mostly from Pinot Noir and Valdiguie grapes. It's an unexceptional fruity wine that goes best with hearty dishes that have rich sauces. Don't confuse this wine with Gamay or Napa Gamay, both of which are superior. The name Gamay Beaujolais is scheduled to be phased out by 2007.

This Danish liqueur is flavored with 29 herbs and spices. It's usually served at room temperature.

German and domestic versions of this white wine are somewhat sweet, flowery, and relatively low in alcohol. They're very good with curry and spicy Asian food. Imports from Alsace tend to be drier and are excellent with seafood and poultry.

This is distilled from grains and similar to vodka except that it's flavored with juniper berries, herbs, peels, and spices. London gin = dry gin = English gin = London dry gin is the preferred gin for martinis and other mixed drinks. American gin is similar, but isn't quite as heavy and dry as London gin. Hollands gin = sweet gin = Dutch gin = Geneva gin = Jenever is sweeter and more aromatic than other gins and isn't normally used for mixed drinks. Don't confuse gin with sloe gin, which is sweetened.