What Type of Alcohol Goes into French Creme de Cassis and Fruit Liqueurs?

Berserkers,

Need your expertise again. Last year, I got a nasty surprise when I found out thanks to the board that many of the liqueurs I liked were made with grain and not grape based spirits which immediately caused me to swear them off. I need the same knowledge now.

What kind of alcohol goes into French Crème de Cassis and other French fruit based “crème” liqueurs? I’m talking liqueurs like Crème de Peche and Crème de Bergamot and so on. These are usually made in Dijon and Alsace. I know they are made by infusing fruit into a water/neutral alcohol mixture and then adding some sugar but I am not sure what type of alcohol is used.


I’m hoping that is grape spirit. If it’s not, I will just end up passing on them and infusing my own brandy again this year. But I would like to know if anyone out there has the knowledge. Thanks.

As long as you buy good Creme de Cassis it will be made with a neutral spirit/brandy. Yes, it is made primarily in France, but it is also made in places like Oregon and Quebec.

Just out of curiosity, why don’t you want to drink grain spirits?

Gluten methinks.

Tran, haven’t you been drinking some Scotches and/or Bourbons recently? [oops.gif]

Hi guys, nothing against grain spirits per se as I obviously drink Scotch whiskey and American bourbon and Canadian whisky. But these are quite different as they are made with care and long aging into liquid works of art.

My issue is specifically with vodka and neutral grain spirits made in that style for the most part. I also don’t drink white dog or new make style grain alcohols for the same reason. I associate cheap flavorless and colorless alcohol with alcoholism for reasons I have posted in previous threads and avoid it like the plague for that reason.

While it is certainly possible for alcoholics to be engaged in drinking fine whisky and bourbon, of course, my personal experience is that the alcoholic related to me could care less about terroir and charring and oak aging and cask finishing which is why they drank cheap-ass Smirnoff and not the Glenlivet Archive 21.

I realize my reaction is a bit abnormal and obviously skewed out of whack by my experiences but it’s just how I feel. I feel better drinking liqueurs made with grape-based neutral spirit than neutral grain spirit and will avoid it like the plague when I can.

You realize that’s ridiculous. It’s like saying you’re not an alcoholic if you don’t drink before 5 pm, or you only drink wine, or beer, or zima, or 35 year cognac. It’s a false security blanket

When my friends tell me “boy you have a lot of alcohol in the house”

My reply is “it’s not alcoholism if it’s expensive”

Well, that actually is true. [snort.gif]

If you don’t know what it is made out of does it still make you feel bad to drink it???

Ignorance is bliss.

George

Of course it’s ridiculous! It’s like saying grain alcohol makes you an alcoholic but fruit alcohol is perfectly safe. Nothing could be further from the truth. My reaction is an emotional one and not a rational one. I am very cognizant of this and nevertheless will continue with this suspect behavior.
However, I should also note that the distaste is real even if it solely based on psychological reasons and not ones of the palate.

And it’s not like I don’t associate fruit alcohol with alcoholism, either. My first exposure to the relative’s alcoholism was when she drink wine coolers every night “to help her sleep” which I would only realize as an adult was her using alcohol to self-medicate. Remember, I only started enjoying wine and spirits regularly and posting here in 2011. That I even do this given what I associate alcohol with in general is a monumental achievement in and of itself.

Honestly, if I don’t know what it is made out of… I come running to the experts here. Otherwise, I won’t touch it.