Applications of natural ingredients in alcoholic drinks - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 380

are produced by pressing (expression) (e.g. citrus fruits), by steam distillation or
by infusion/maceration in spirit, sometimes with distillation.
Fruit-fl avoured spirits are generally of normal strength (35-40% alcohol by
volume (ABV)) and do not include sugar syrup or other sweeteners. In more
'upscale' products, fruit fl avours are obtained by infusion or maceration of fresh
fruit. Examples include wild strawberry vodka (Facile, Sweden), blackberry
vodka, mango vodka, pomegranate vodka (all Van Gogh spirits, Netherlands),
mango rum and pineapple rum (Boz Spirits, US).
Fruit liqueurs are made with added sweeteners, usually sugar syrup and/or
honey, and their alcoholic strengths are typically 15-25% ABV. Table 16.12 lists
some typical fruit liqueurs and Fig. 16.9 illustrates two major methods of fruit
liqueur production. Also in this category are many of the 'fruit wines' of China,
Japan and Korea, as these are often made by infusing fruit (e.g. black raspberry,
plum, raspberry) in diluted, sweetened spirit from potato, rice, sweet potato or
other wines. They are normally around 16% ABV, but some Japanese plum
liqueurs (umeshu) are closer to 12% ABV.
Fruit-fl avoured spirit-based FABs and ready-to-drink cocktails are generally
made with concentrate or extracts and sugar syrup, and are usually sold at 4-10%
ABV, but alcoholic strengths can be higher.
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿
Fig. 16.9 Simplifi ed scheme for the preparation of fruit liqueurs. Based on Buglass et al.
(2011b). Some fruit liqueurs are made by a combination of maceration and distillation
techniques.