Liquids Category

This is a Spanish orange liqueur.

This is a fairly sweet brandy-based orange liqueur. There are two kinds: the well-regarded red, or Cordon Rouge, and the sweeter and less potent yellow, or Cordon Jaune.

This category includes red grape juice, white grape juice, and sparkling grape juice.

This comes either sweetened or unsweetened.

This potent and somewhat harsh drink is made from the grape residue, called pomace, that's left over from making brandy. It's traditionally been thought of as a second-rate eau de vie, but some producers have developed premium grappas that are quite smooth and very pricey. Grappa is the Italian version, marc the French, aguardiente the Spanish, testerbranntwein the German, and bagaceira the Portuguese.

Guarana powder is used mostly in Brazil to make tea and soft drinks. The seeds are roasted and ground. They are similar to coffee beans but have a higher caffeine content.

A specialty of the Caribbean island of St. Martin, guavaberry liqueur is based on rum and flavored with the island's indigenous guavaberries.

(10.5 - 18% fat)

This is low-alcohol wine that's made from apples. It's fairly sweet, and especially popular in Normandy.

This is great in coffee, on ice cream, or in cakes that use a liqueur as an ingredient. Frangelico is a well-regarded brand.

at least 36% fat. Unlike heavy cream, lower-fat substitutes like half-and-half and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the sauce over low or medium heat, or reduce the cream substitute before adding it to the sauce. Don't let the sauce boil. Cream sauces made with lower-fat cream substitutes also tend to have less body; to correct for that, consider adding 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch to the sauce for every cup of evaporated milk substituted. Stir the thickener into a paste first to prevent lumps. Ultra-pasteurized whipping cream is harder to whip and has some unpleasant flavor notes.

Herb vinegars are a convenient way to preserve fresh herbs and to incorporate their flavor into salad dressings, marinades, and sauces. They're easy to make at home. Just put one or two sprigs of clean, fresh herbs in a bottle of warm vinegar, tightly seal the bottle, and let it stand for at least a few days. The sprigs will eventually become bitter, so remove or replace them after a few weeks. Make sure that the vinegar you use has an acidity level of at least 5% (this information is given on the label). Wine, rice, or cider vinegars are good bases for most herb vinegars. Don't add too many herbs to the bottle, or you may reduce the acidity of the vinegar so much that it loses its ability to preserve.

Herbal liqueurs include Chartreuse, Strega, Suze, Kümmel, Izarra, Jägermeister, Fernet Branca, and anise-flavored liqueurs.

Made in New Orleans, this anise-flavored liqueur was developed as a substitute for absinthe, which contains a narcotic and is outlawed in the United States. It's used in mixed drinks and Oysters Rockefeller.

This is a Spanish beverage made with rice, almonds, or chufa. Horchatas sold in markets are often flavored with chocolate, cinnamon, or fruit. Varieties: Hispanic stores often carry almond horchata = horchata de almendra, chufa horchata = horchata de chufa, the traditional Spanish version, and rice horchata = horchata de arroz.

This is a bitter, full-bodied ale that's relatively high in alcohol. It can be identified by the letters IPA on the label. Don't confuse this with American pale ale, which is much tamer.

This is made with Irish whiskey flavored with chocolate and cream. Bailey's Irish Cream is a well-known brand.

This liqueur is based on Irish whiskey, and is flavored with herbs and honey.

Irish whiskey resembles Scotch, only without the smoky flavor. Jameson 1780 and Black Bush are highly regarded brands. Whiskey should be served at room temperature.

This is a Basque version of Chartreuse. Like its prototype, it comes in a green and a milder yellow version

This is a potent, bittersweet herbal liqueur. You can sometimes see Jägermeister bumper stickers on cars, often the kind that also sport surf shop decals.

This is a Mexican product that's halfway between buttermilk and sour cream.

This is a grape variety that produces a fragrant, fresh-tasting white wine that's great with ham, sausages, smoked fish, shellfish, or spicy Asian food. It's the grape that's used to make excellent Rhine wines in Germany. Don't confuse these excellent wines with domestic Riesling wines, which are usually made with inferior cousins of the Johanissberg Riesling grape. Late harvest Johannisberg Rieslings are very sweet, and make excellent dessert wines.

Kefir is like a thin, drinkable yogurt. It was originally made in Turkey out of camel's milk. It comes plain or flavored.

Freshly squeezed lime juice is vastly superior to what you'll find in bottles. Key limes and bottled key lime juice are widely available in the Southeast, and in specialty markets elsewhere. Liquor stores sometimes carry Rose's lime juice, which is sweetened key lime juice.

Indians use this to make desserts and drinks.

This colorless cherry brandy is made primarily in Germany. French kirsch isn't quite as dry.

This is wine that's been made in accordance with Rabbinical law. Most people think of them as syrupy-sweet screw-top wines made with Concord grapes, but some kosher wines are now being produced that are indistinguishable from quality non-kosher wines. Unless pasteurized, a wine can only remain kosher if it's poured by an observant Jew. Bottles of pasteurized wine sport the label "mevushal."

Like kefir, kumiss is a beverage made from milk cultured with bacteria. Asian nomads originally made it with the milk of camels or mares, but commercial producers now use cow's milk.

This is a sweet liqueur based on grain alcohol and flavored with caraway seeds and cumin. Gilka Kümmel and Allasch Kümmel are well-regarded brands.

This is a liqueur flavored with kumquats.

These are the light-bodied, effervescent beers that are so popular in America. They're brewed from malted barley, hops, and water, and then stored (or "lagered") until the sediment settles. The beer is then clarified and carbonated. Dark lager beers are brown in color and sweeter than the more popular pale lagers. Pilsner Urquell beer is a famous lager that's made in the Czech Republic. Producers elsewhere sometimes call their better brews Pilsner beer = Pilsener beer, but they're not as good as their namesake. Light beer = lite beer has fewer calories and less alcohol than conventional beer.

These pricey wines are produced from grapes that are picked late in the season, after they've shriveled a bit on the vine. This concentrates the sugar and allows producers to turn the grapes into sweet, rich dessert wines. Some of the best late harvest wines are made from grapes that have become moldy with the Botrytis cinerea fungus (also known as "noble rot"). The fungus pokes holes in the grape skins, allowing more water to evaporate. Ice wine = icewine = eiswein is an especially sweet and expensive kind of late harvest wine in which the dehydrated grapes are allowed to freeze on the vine, resulting in a very sweet wine. These and other late harvest wines are often sold in half-bottles, and are best drunk by themselves or with fruit or light desserts. Don't serve them with chocolate or very sweet desserts.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice tastes much better than bottled juice.

These liqueurs are made with lemon peels and best served very cold.

This Spanish liqueur is made up of 43 ingredients, with vanilla and citrus predominant.

Light corn syrup is used to make everything from candy to fake blood at Halloween.

18 - 30% fat Unlike heavy cream, lower-fat substitutes like light cream, half-and-half, and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the sauce over low or medium heat, or reduce the cream substitute before adding it to the sauce. Don't let the sauce boil. Cream sauces made with lower-fat cream substitutes also tend to have less body; to correct for that, consider adding 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch to the sauce for every cup of evaporated milk substituted. Stir the thickener into a paste first to prevent lumps.

30 - 36% fat Unlike heavy cream or whipping cream, lower-fat substitutes like half-and-half and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the sauce over low or medium heat, or reduce the cream substitute before adding it to the sauce. Don't let the sauce boil. Cream sauces made with lower-fat cream substitutes also tend to have less body; to correct for that, consider adding 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch to the sauce for every cup of evaporated milk substituted. Stir the thickener into a paste first to prevent lumps.

This is an expensive and light French apéritif made with wine and brandy. There are two versions: Lillet Blonde (white) and Lillet Rouge (red).