Cocktails with Ginger liqueur
Ginger liqueur is a spirit-based liqueur flavored with ginger root and sweetened.
ABV20–25%
Substitutes for Ginger liqueur
Ginger syrup and neutral spirit in equal volumes is the close swap — that is what brings it to the usual 22% ABV. A spicier ginger wine works too if you accept its lower strength.
Often confused with
Ginger syrup with neutral spirit
Equal parts, and that is the usual 22% ABV. There is less of the fresh root in it; it doses more precisely.
Ginger wine
Sharper on the ginger and much weaker — around 13% ABV. The measure can stay, and the drink loses strength if the liqueur was the only spirit in it.
Description
Ginger heat comes from gingerol in the fresh root, and what happens to it decides how a bottle tastes. Heat turns gingerol into zingerone, which is milder and sweeter; drying turns it into shogaol, which is sharper. A liqueur made by cold maceration keeps more of the raw bite than one built on a cooked syrup, and that difference is bigger than the difference between brands. At 20–25% it sits well below a base spirit, and it carries enough sugar that a drink taking a full measure of it usually needs none of its own.
