Kräuterlikör (herbal liqueur or spiced liqueur, also called "half-bitters") is a type of

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyon ...

that is flavored with

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

s or

spices A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are ...

and traditionally drunk

neat Neat may refer to: * Neat (bartending), a single, unmixed liquor served in a rocks glass * Neat, an old term for horned oxen * Neat Records, a British record label * Neuroevolution of augmenting topologies (NEAT), a genetic algorithm (GA) for th ...

as a digestif, very close to the concept of an italian '' amaro''. The history of Kräuterlikör recipes dates back to

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

authors like

Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...

. Mixtures of alcohol and bitter substances were used as medicine to increase

bile Bile (from Latin ''bilis''), or gall, is a dark-green-to-yellowish-brown fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is produced continuously by the liver (liver bi ...

and

gastric acid Gastric acid, gastric juice, or stomach acid is a digestive fluid formed within the stomach lining. With a pH between 1 and 3, gastric acid plays a key role in digestion of proteins by activating digestive enzymes, which together break down the ...

secretion; however, the higher proportion of alcohol and sugar is not conducive to

digestion Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into small water-soluble food molecules so that they can be absorbed into the watery blood plasma. In certain organisms, these smaller substances are absorbed through the small intest ...

. Nowadays, Kräuterlikör is also served as an ingredient of different

cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely acr ...

s and long drinks. Widely sold liqueur brands are Riga Black Balsam,

Jägermeister ( , ; stylized Jägermeiſter) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation ...

, Killepitsch,

Kuemmerling Kuemmerling is the brandname of a type of Kräuterlikör (herb liqueur) from Germany, belonging to the group of Halbbitter (semi bitters). This 35% by volume alcohol is a type of bitters. It has been in production since 1963 in Bodenheim, near Mai ...

Schierker Feuerstein Schierker Feuerstein is a German herbal liqueur, a half-bitters at a strength of 35% alcohol by volume ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof), originally produced in the village of Schierke, located in the Upper Harz region of Saxony-Anhalt, German ...

Schwartzhog Hardenberg Wilthen AG is a distillery in Nörten-Hardenberg and Wilthen, Germany. It produces Korn and a number of other liquors. The company ranks as Germany's second largest liquor producer. History Hardenberg Wilthen has been owned and manage ...

Wurzelpeter Wurzelpeter is a Kräuterlikör-type liqueur produced in Germany. It is flavoured with a variety of herbs, bark, and roots: its name references the latter (''Wurzel'' in the German language). History Production was started in 1935 in Berlin-Mit ...

, and

Underberg Underberg is a digestif bitter produced at Rheinberg in Germany by Underberg AG. It is made from aromatic herbs from 43 countries that undergo inspections and are formulated based on a secret recipe of the Underberg family, whose members are p ...

(Germany), Altvater (Austria), Becherovka (Czech Republic), Unicum (Hungary), as well as Bénédictine and Chartreuse (France). In Italy, '' amaro'' ("bitter") liqueurs include Cynar and Ramazzotti.

References

German distilled drinks Herbal liqueurs {{Distilled-beverage-stub

See also

References