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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   2660 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 16, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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I mean clear spirits spiced with things like Anise, Wormwood, Angelica, Sea Buckthorn, Caraway, Fennel, Coriander, Rowan and juniper berries.

I'm not sure what the equivalent would be in America, in Sweden it's called 'Snaps' but the English translation of 'Schnapps' isn't very good since that's a broader category of drinks.

Interesting. Are hard, clear fruit spirits (usually double-distilled straight off the fruit mash and not treated or mixed after) also called Snaps in Sweden?

Anyway, I can warmly recommend drinking those after dinner, neat, as well. I like plum best, but Williams Christ (a type of pear) is a well-deserved classic, too.

They can be but that isn't typical modern usage. These days it usually refers to spiced clear grain/potato alcohol, which is pretty much the Danish meaning of the word, for which the EU market protected word is akvavit (not to be confused with 'eau de vie', even if that is the etymological root of the word).

Aquavit / Eau de Vie?

I know what you’re talking about but yeah there’s not a good term for it in English.

Lightly spiced spirits sounds like gin.

Gin is like a subcategory of what he’s referring to.

It is a lot like Gin but it doesn't have to be flavoured with juniper berries. On that note, gin is very good drunk straight.

My current favourite is Hernö.

So liqueur then?

Aren't liqueurs almost universally (heavily) sweetened?

Yes. ‘Unsweetened flavored hard liquor’ is not a thing that exists in the U.S. market outside of niche things with their own special names(chartreuse, absinthe, flavored vodka, gin, etc). You can buy whiskey with no flavoring or you can buy whiskey with tons of sugar in it.

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