DIY Pear Liqueur Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is pear liqueur made of? ›

It's made simply from Bartlett pears that are pressed for juice, fermented, and distilled in pot stills. A touch of quince (a pear-esque fruit) is added to the distillate to enhance the pear flavor. In the final step, sugar and purified water are added to get the liqueurs to just the right sweetness and proof.

Pear brandy is a liquor distilled from pears, and is sometimes called eau de vie de poire. These are the ones you'll see with the little pear in the bottle, and there's no sugar added. Pear liqueur, on the other hand, is a spirit plus sugar and pear flavoring. The spirit can be brandy or a liquor made from pears.

Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England, particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire, parts of South Wales and France, especially Normandy and Anjou, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

If you can't get the spiced pear liqueur, you could use a good-quality triple sec, orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier) or another good fruit-based liqueur. Allspice Dram (homemade or store-bought) is another possible liqueur to use, which has spicy notes.

St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur has an impeccable pedigree: It begins as our flagship pear brandy, to which we add cinnamon and clove. We then add luscious pear juice, which brings down the proof from still strength to 20% alcohol by volume, and balance the sweetness and acidity with organic cane sugar and malic acid.

In Northern Europe, a sparkling alcoholic beverage is made from both pears and apples. Cider, or cidre, by definition is fermented juice of apples or pears. These beverages are usually between 4% and 7% alcohol and generally retain some carbon dioxide, so that they have “fizz,” much like beer.

When fruit starts to expire, it undergoes a process called fermentation. Fermentation occurs when naturally present yeast or other microorganisms convert sugars in the fruit into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This fermentation process is similar to what happens during the production of alcoholic beverages.

Poire Williams is the name for eau de vie (colorless, unsweetened fruit brandy) made from the Williams pear (also known as Williams' bon chrétien and as the Bartlett pear in the United States, Canada and Australia) in France and Switzerland. It is generally served chilled as an after-dinner drink.

Indulge in the rich and complex flavors of Poire Williams Prisoner Eau De Vie, a French pear brandy liqueur like no other. Made with the finest French pears, carefully selected and distilled to perfection, this fruit liqueur is infused with a whole pear, grown inside the bottle until it reaches its optimum size.

What French liqueur is made from pears? ›

Briottet's Williams Pear Eau de Vie (45% volume) is made using Williams pears from orchards in the south of France which produce very sweet and flavoursome fruit. Distillation following fermentation of pears selected when fully ripe enables all of the aromatic intensity to be extracted from the fruit.

Most opened (and well-sealed) liqueurs should last for six months to a year (or even longer), depending on the alcohol content and preservatives. Once you notice sugar crystallizing on the bottom, discoloration, curdling, or other changes, throw the bottle away.

Flavored liqueurs often make their way into baked goods. Here's another spot where you can replicate the original flavor. Coffee-flavored liqueurs can be replaced with espresso powder dissolved in water, or plain brewed coffee; ditto chocolate liqueur and cocoa powder.

Liqueurs are produced by combining a base spirit, usually brandy, with fruits or herbs and are sweetened by the addition of a sugar syrup composing more than 2 1/2 percent of the total beverage by volume.

In late summer, they remove the bottles and pluck off leaves, clean the pear and glass, and finally, pour in colorless pear brandy — distilled from last year's harvest. Once they seal it up, voila, they've made a beautiful bottle of brandy with a whole pear inside.

These can range from the common, such as raspberries, oranges, and cherries, to the more exotic, like lychees and passionfruit. The chosen fruit is then typically macerated in a base spirit, often a neutral grain alcohol, to extract its flavours and colours.