Liquids Category

Most beers are brewed from malted barley and flavored with hops, which makes them slightly bitter. Beer is good with salty and spicy foods, like pretzels, pizza, and hot dogs, but it can also be used as a cooking ingredient, adding a pleasant bitterness to chili, stews, and soups, and softening the texture of baked goods. If a recipe calls simply for beer, use a lager beer; a strong ale can easily overpower a dish. De-alcoholized beers are also available.

This light green liqueur was first produced in the 16th century by a French monk, who combined various herbs, spices, and peels with brandy. It's somewhat sweet by itself, so many people cut it with brandy or buy B&B, which is premixed Bénédictine and brandy. The letters D.O.M. stand for Deo Optimo Maximo (To God, the best and greatest), which is the Bénédictine motto

These wines are made from berries, including blackberries, loganberries, cranberries, elderberries, strawberries, raspberries, kiwi fruit, boysenberries, and currants. They tend to be very sweet, and some are fortified to raise the alcohol level. They're usually served chilled as a beverage, or poured on ice cream or fruit as a dessert.

These are liqueurs and fortified wines that have a bittersweet flavor. They're often mixed with soda and served as apéritifs. These liqueurs are sometimes called bitters, but they're not as intensely flavored as the bitters that come in little bottles, which are normally measured out in drops. Popular brands include Campari, Fernet Branca, Byrrh, Dubonnet, Punt è Mes, Cynar, Suze, Jägermeister, and Amer Picon.

This is a late harvest dessert wine made with black muscat grapes and sometimes fortified with brandy. Unlike many dessert wines, it goes well with chocolate.

This is the British version of America's blackstrap molasses. It's common in Britain, but hard to find in the United States. Look for it in specialty markets. Don't confuse this with golden syrup, which is sometimes called light treacle.

Kroatzbeere and Marie Brizard are well-regarded brands.

This has a strong, bitter flavor, and it's not very sweet. It's sometimes used to make chili. Look for it in health food stores.

Blended whiskies are mixtures of different kinds of straight whiskies and neutral spirits. After they're blended, they're allowed to age together for awhile so that the flavors can marry. Whiskey should be served at room temperature.

"Blush" is displacing "rosé" as the name given to pink wines, though some people use the name rosé to describe darker pink wines. Whatever name you give them, they're usually made from red grapes that are only allowed to ferment a few days--too short a time for the grape skins to impart a deeper color to the wine. The result is a pink, fruity wine that's best served chilled and goes best with poultry, seafood, and spicy dishes. These wines are quite popular, but wine snobs think they're boring. Don't cook with these wines--they aren't flavorful enough.

This is a sweet, strong-tasting lager beer that's heavy on the malt and light on the hops. It's not as bitter as most beers.

The Bordeaux region in France produces excellent red wines, especially in the districts of Médoc, Haut-Médoc, and St. Emilion. These wines are rich and complex, and usually made with a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot grapes. Bordeaux wines with the generic label "Bordeaux Wine" usually aren't as good as those with more specific appellations, like "St. Emilion Wine." Red Bordeaux wines go especially well with lamb and poultry.

The Bordeaux region in France is renown for its red wines, but it also produces excellent white wines, made with Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon grapes.

Though milder than Scotch, Bourbon is well regarded by whiskey connoisseurs. To be called Bourbon, whiskey must be produced in Kentucky and be made mostly with corn. Jim Beam is a popular brand, but more serious Bourbon lovers seek out Maker's Mark. Whiskey should be served at room temperature.

Brandy is often served as an after-dinner drink, or added to coffee. According to legend, it was first produced when an enterprising sea captain distilled wine in order to save space on his ship. He planned to reconstitute it with water when he arrived at his home port, but those who sampled the new concoction liked it just the way it was. Today, most brandy is distilled from white wine, though red wine and other fermented fruit juices are also used. It's then aged in oak barrels for several years. To learn about different varieties of brandy, click here.

This is a style of beer that's sweeter, darker, and less bitter than the typical American lager beer.

Health buffs like this because it contains complex sugars, which are absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream. It's about half as sweet as ordinary table sugar. Some rice syrups include barley malt, and may pose a problem for people with gluten allergies.

Burgundy is a region in eastern France that produces excellent red wines, but the Burgundy wines produced in the United States are usually inexpensive jug wines made from different grape varieties.

Burgundy is a region in eastern France that produces excellent red and white wines. Some of the better wine-producing areas in Burgundy are Chablis and Pouilly-Fuissé, both of which produce exquisite white wines from Chardonnay grapes. Burgundy wines produced in the United States are usually inexpensive blends of different grape varieties.

Despite its name and creamy consistency, buttermilk is relatively low in fat. It's sometimes tolerated by people with lactose intolerance since some of the lactose is fermented by bacteria. Most of the buttermilk found in supermarkets is cultured buttermilk, made by adding a bacterial culture to low-fat or nonfat milk. More authentic and tasty, though, is churn buttermilk, which is the liquid that remains after milk is churned into butter. Since recipes often call for just small amounts of buttermilk, many cooks use reconstituted powdered buttermilk. Churn buttermilk may require longer baking times than ordinary commercial buttermilk.

This is a tangy and bittersweet French vermouth that's made with quinine and red wine. It's usually mixed with club soda.

Cabernet Franc grapes are related to Cabernet Sauvignon, but they make for a lighter, fruitier wine. The wine is often blended with others, but sometimes sold as a varietal wine.

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes make a hearty, complex red wine that's especially good with roasted meats and heavy stews. Domestic Cabernets are often excellent.

This sugarcane brandy is made in Brazil, where the name means "burning water." Velho Barreto is a well-regarded brand.

This popular Italian bitters is often mixed with soda, ice, and a twist of lemon and served as an apéritif.

These blended whiskies have a lighter body than those made in the United States. Crown Royal and Canadian Club are popular brands. Canadians follow the British convention of spelling whisky without an "e." Whiskey should be served at room temperature.

This is made from sugar cane syrup, and varies in quality. You can get cheap cane vinegar in Filipino markets, but the Vinegarman at www.vinegarman.com recommends that you hold out for the smoother Steen's Cane Vinegar, which is made in Louisiana.

If made in France, this is a very dry, delicately flavored white wine that's made with Chardonnay grapes. It's great with seafood, especially oysters. If made domestically, like a California Chablis, it's a sweet and cheap jug wine.