7 Great Cocktails that Use Fruit Liqueur

Do you think fruit liqueur is cloying, syrupy or tastes like — blech — cherry cough syrup? Kinda yeah, kinda no. We spoke to bartenders to find out which fruit liqueurs they actually like. But how you use them is just as important as the ones you choose. “Fruit liqueurs are sticky and sweet but when used in a cocktail recipe, make a perfect balance,” says International Smoke lead bartender Jorge Delgado. He and six other mixologists show you how it’s done with terrific cocktails that use fruit liqueurs as accents, modifiers, brighteners, and balance. You’ll taste fruit liqueur in a fresh new way.

Avoir La Pêche

Recipe courtesy of Jorge Delgado of International Smoke

Avoir La Pêche is like the love child of a sour and a flip. The cognac base gives this simple but full-bodied cocktail a fruit-forward head start. The bruléed peach foam makes for a seriously peachy finish.

Ingredients:

2 ounces cognac

.75 ounces lemon juice

.25 ounces honey

Method:

Shake, double strain Pour into two glasses, no ice.

Garnish: tableside brûlée peach foam

Peach Foam Brûlée

3 ounces Giffard peach liqueur

4 ounces egg whites

3 ounces lemon juice

6 ounces simple syrup

2 ISI chargers

Method:

Mix all the ingredients and add them to the ISI whip

Passion of Love

Recipe courtesy of Il Mulino New York at Acqualina

Master Craft Mixologist William Santos

Champagne topped with a tart hit of Chinola passion fruit is a two-ingredient summer refresher, but add to that herbaceous elements of cucumber vodka and watermelon basil juice, and you’ve got a drink fusing refreshing elements and exotic allure. It should taste of the essence of a passionate summer.

Ingredients:

1.75 ounces Ketel One Cucumber

1 ounce Italicus bergamot liqueur

1 ounce Chinola passion fruit liqueur

1 ounce watermelon basil juice

.5 ounce lime juice

Champagne floater

Method:

Shake all ingredients and pour into regular glass, Top with Champagne floater.

Pua Loma

Recipe courtesy of Mari Howe, formerly of Pacific ‘o On the Beach

The classic Paloma takes on a fresh island accent at the hands of Mari Howe. Mari loves to infuse the fruits and flavors of Hawaii in her cocktail creations, making pressed juices from the fruits and herbs from the property’s farm.

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces blanco tequila

.75 ounces fresh lime juice

.75 ounces tropical Macnut syrup*

.5 ounces Giffard Pamplemousse liqueur

splash of club soda

Method:

Combine all the ingredients together, except club soda. Add fresh ice to a tall Collins glass. Splash in a little club soda. Shake and strain the tequila mixture and pour over the ice.

Garnish with a fresh slice of ruby red grapefruit and a pua (means flower in Hawaii). We use edible nasturtium flowers from O’o Farm.

* Our tropical Macnut syrup is equal parts macadamia nut orgeat and liliko’i (passion fruit)-pineapple syrup.

Pendennis Highball

Recipe courtesy of Here Nor There Beverage Director Conor O’Reilly

The bones of the classic Pendennis Club Cocktail are all here — the botanical spank of London dry gin, the balance of apricot liqueur and the spiced brightness of Peychaud’s, but swapping lemon for lime and the addition of grapefruit soda adds another dimension and make for a rounder, fuller finish.

Ingredients:

1 ounce Fords Gin 30ml

.5 ounce Rothman & Winter Orchard apricot liqueur

.5 ounce simple syrup

.5 ounce fresh lemon juice

4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

2.5 ounces Fever Tree pink grapefruit soda

lemon and grapefruit wedge to garnish

Method: Add all chilled ingredients into glass and stir.

Garnish: Express lemon oil over the top and garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

Tropical Itch

Recipe courtesy of UnderTow owner and Barter & Shake Cocktail Entertainment PR founder Jason Asher

There’s so many ways a daiquiri can go wrong. Getting it right means staying true to its origins as a sour. The Tropical Itch nails it. Though refreshed by mango, Cointreau and mint, this daiquiri goes brown and boozy with a core of lime juice meeting dark and white rum plus a generous pour of vodka.

Ingredients:

3 dashes Angostura bitters

1 ounce lime juice

.75 ounce real mango purée infused syrup

.50 ounce Cointreau

.75 ounces Rum Coruba

.75 ounces Pau vodka

1.5 ounce Havana Club anejo blanco rum

1 mint top

1 back scratcher

1 pineapple wedge

Method:

Mix with a spindle, pour into a grande glass, garnish with mint sprig a pineapple wedge and a back scratcher (free of charge!)

Daddy Issues

Recipe courtesy of Mister Mao Beverage Director William “Wildcat” Greenwell

Daddy Issues starts out as a Manhattan with bourbon, but adds two classic spirits — Combier orange liqueur which tilts towards orange rind’s tartness, and Cherry Heering, which adds botanicals to the sweetness of cherry. The result is a spirit-forward amber, aromatic cocktail that feels like settling into your father’s leather armchair.

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces Buffalo Trace bourbon

.75 ounces Amaro Averna

.25 ounces Combier orange liqueur

.25 ounces Cherry Heering

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 Luxardo cherry for garnish

Method:

Combine all ingredients except cherry with ice and stir (do not shake). Strain into coupe and garnish with cherry.

Negroni Blanco

Negroni Bianco photo credit Sarah Peters Photography

Recipe courtesy of Osteria Lupo Bartender Reno de Ranieri

A Negroni by any color is going to be a bittersweet affair. Negroni Blanco lacks Campari’s vivid red color and bracing bitterness but stays true to the classic Negroni profile with its gin base. Apricot liqueur, amaro and the element of gentian (that’s the Saveur d’Autrefois, French for a taste of the past) give the blanco a wistful grace.

Ingredients:

.75 ounce Plymouth gin

.75 ounce Suze Saveur d'Autrefois

.5 ounce Alpe Lys amaro

2 bar spoons Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot

3 drops Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit Bitters

grapefruit peel to garnish

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Stir and strain over large rock.

Express and garnish with generous slice of grapefruit peel.