Liqueurs at home - what triple sec, amaretto, schnapps and limoncello are, and how to make them

By Hamish Rodgers-Wilson, Australian Home Brewing, established 1968

A liqueur is a spirit with sugar and flavour added to it. Wikipedia's definition runs a little longer: an alcoholic drink composed of spirits and additional flavourings such as sugar, fruits, herbs and spices, typically heavily sweetened and not aged. That is the whole idea, and it is why a liqueur is the one spirit you can make in a kitchen anywhere in Australia with no still at all.

Triple sec, amaretto, schnapps and limoncello are four of the most sought-after liqueurs. Each one below gets the plain answer, what it goes in, and how to make 1.125 litres of it from a bottle of vodka and one of the Top Shelf liqueurs flavourings. Australian Home Brewing has stocked them in Melbourne since 1968, so the method below is the one we hand over the counter.

How a liqueur is made

Every liqueur has three parts: a spirit for the strength, sugar for the sweetness and body, and a flavour. Commercial producers get the flavour by steeping fruit, peel, nuts or herbs in the spirit, then sweeten it. At home you can do that too, and the limoncello section shows how. The Still Spirits method splits the three parts into three things you can buy.

The flavouring is a 50 ml bottle. The base pack is the sugar and body. The spirit is 40% ABV neutral spirit or plain vodka. Put them together and top up with water to 1.125 litres, which is one large liqueur bottle.

The base pack is the choice that matters. Every Top Shelf liqueur flavouring carries a letter, A, B or C, and the letter is the base pack it needs. A is the lightest and least sweet, B sits in the middle and C is the sweetest and fullest. Base A is a 220 g pack and Base C is 320 g, which is the whole difference. Schnapps flavourings use their own 300 g Schnapps base, and cream liqueurs use a 400 g Cream base. The letter is not a grade. Match it, and the liqueur comes out as intended. Swap it, and an amaretto made on Base A will retain its body and suit people who prefer their liqueurs a little less sweet.

The method is the same for all of them. Put the amount of spirit the bottle states into a large jug, add the base pack slowly while whisking so it does not clump, add the flavouring, and top up to 1.125 litres with water. It is ready to pour the same day. All of the liqueur base packs are on one page, so buy the flavouring and the base it names together.

None of this needs to be precise to the millilitre. A clean jug, the right base and a bottle of vodka cover most of it.

The base packs are designed to replicate the body and sweetness of popular commercial liqueurs. Top Shelf Cafelua is a coffee liqueur that matches Kahlua, which is quite sweet. The suggested base for Cafelua is Base C, but if you like it a little less sweet, try Base B. If that is not quite sweet enough, add a touch more sugar to the finished liqueur.

What is triple sec?

Triple sec is an orange-flavoured liqueur that originated in France. It usually contains 20 to 40% alcohol by volume. It is clear, it tastes of orange peel, and it is drier than most liqueurs, which is why it works in a margarita or a cosmopolitan rather than on its own.

The names cause the confusion. Triple sec is the style. Curaçao is an older orange liqueur flavoured with the dried peel of the laraha, a bitter orange grown on the island of Curaçao, and it is sold as a dry orange version and the blue-dyed blue curaçao. Cointreau is a brand of triple sec, made in France since 1875. When a cocktail recipe says Cointreau or orange liqueur, triple sec does the job.

Top Shelf Triple Sec is the B letter, so it takes Liqueur Base B. Make up the Base B as per the pack, add the flavouring and 850 ml of 40% spirit, then top up to 1.125 litres with water. It does everything a bought triple sec does: margaritas, cosmopolitans, sidecars, or a splash in a long drink.

What is amaretto?

Amaretto is a sweet Italian liqueur from Saronno. Depending on the brand, it is made from apricot kernels, bitter almonds, peach stones or almonds, which all carry the compound that gives the almond-like flavour, and it generally contains 21 to 28% alcohol by volume. Sweet, a little bitter, and unmistakably marzipan on the nose. It is the bottle for an amaretto sour, a splash in coffee, or over ice after dinner.

Top Shelf Amaretto carries the C letter, so it needs the sweetest base, Liqueur Base C. Make up the base, add the flavouring and 850 ml of 40% spirit, then top up to 1.125 litres. Do not substitute Base A or B for this one. Amaretto is meant to be rich.

What is schnapps?

Schnapps means two different drinks. In Germany and Austria it is a clear fruit brandy, distilled and unsweetened. In Australia, when someone says peach schnapps, they mean the sweet, flavoured liqueur made by adding fruit flavour and sugar to a neutral spirit. Wikipedia covers both under the one word: distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and flavoured liqueurs made by adding fruit syrups, spices or flavourings to neutral grain spirit.

The Australian kind is the one you can make. The Top Shelf schnapps flavourings all use the one Schnapps base, which is a little lighter than the A, B and C bases to suit clean fruit styles. Peach, pear, banana and strawberry each take 650 ml of 40% spirit, the base, and water to 1.125 litres. Peach is the one most cocktail recipes call for, so make it first. Butterscotch is the one that disappears fastest in winter.

What is limoncello?

Limoncello is a lemon liqueur from Southern Italy, made around the Gulf of Naples, the Amalfi coast and Sicily. It is traditionally served chilled after dinner, and it is the second most popular liqueur in Italy. It is also the liqueur Italians make at home more than any other, because the method is steeping lemon zest in spirit and sweetening it.

There are two ways to make it. The quick one is the Icon Limoncello, a 330 ml bottle of ready-made liqueur concentrate that flavours up to 1 litre: pour the bottle into a 1 litre bottle, add 90 ml of water and top up with vodka or neutral spirit at 50% ABV. If you use 40% vodka, add less water to keep the same final strength.

The from-scratch one is the recipe we have handed out for years: the zest of 10 lemons steeped for 3 weeks in half of a 750 ml bottle of 40% spirit, a Liqueur Base C dissolved in the other half and added, 3 more weeks, then strained and topped up to 1.125 litres. The full method, with the juicy version and the serving notes, is in the limoncello recipe. Keep the finished bottle in the freezer.

Do I need a still?

No. Every liqueur on this page starts from 40% spirit, and a plain bought vodka is exactly that. The Top Shelf product pages list "neutral spirit or vodka" as the base, and the amaretto page adds that a liqueur is more forgiving of its base spirit than a straight vodka essence is, because the sweetness covers more. Some people start with a bottle of vodka from the bottle shop.

If you already make your own neutral spirit, use it as it is. Skip the vodka essence, because the liqueur flavouring supplies the taste. Our guide to how to make vodka at home covers the wash, the run and the carbon filter. One thing to be clear on: making that spirit is distilling, and in Australia you need a licence from the ATO to distil spirits, including at home. Distilling water and extracting botanical oils do not need one. Steeping, sweetening and mixing a bought spirit is not distilling, and needs no licence.

One more the searches ask about: chambord is a raspberry liqueur at 16.5% ABV, modelled on a liqueur made in the Loire Valley. The Top Shelf range has raspberry options, and the same base-pack method applies.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cointreau the same as triple sec?

Cointreau is a brand. Triple sec is the style of clear orange liqueur it belongs to. If a recipe calls for Cointreau, a triple sec made from the Top Shelf flavouring and Base B does the same job in the glass.

Can I drink triple sec by itself?

You can, but it is drier and more bitter than most liqueurs, so it is better in a cocktail or over ice with soda. Amaretto, schnapps and limoncello are the ones people drink neat.

What is the difference between a liqueur and a liquor?

A liquor is a distilled spirit on its own: vodka, gin, rum, whisky. A liqueur is a spirit with sugar and flavour added to it, which is why it is sweeter and usually lower in alcohol. Every liqueur starts as a liquor.

What does the letter on a Top Shelf liqueur mean?

It names the base pack. A is the least sweet, B is the middle, and C is the sweetest and fullest-bodied. Schnapps flavourings use the Schnapps base and cream liqueurs use the Cream base. Match the letter and you cannot go far wrong.

How long does a homemade liqueur keep?

The spirit preserves it, so a sealed bottle of triple sec, amaretto, schnapps or limoncello keeps in the cupboard for months, and limoncello lives in the freezer. Cream liqueurs are the exception: keep the finished bottle in the fridge and it keeps for months.

Can I make liqueur in Australia without a licence?

Yes. Mixing a flavouring and a base into bought vodka, or steeping lemon zest in it, is not distilling. The licence from the ATO applies only if you distil the spirit yourself.