Favorite Liqueurs to Pair with Champagne

Made with a base of brandy, this liqueur gets its flavor from Queen Charlotte and March violets found in the Alps. No additional fruit or spice flavors are added to the liqueur before it’s bottled at 20% ABV. It is recommended that this liqueur is used within two years of purchase.

Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto is a straw colored citrus liqueur. It was crafted by acclaimed barman and Italian spirits expert Giuseppe Gallo who adjusted the proportions and sweetness levels from a 19th century recipe for Rosolio. It begins with Calabrian bergamot oranges and Sicilian cedri which have gone through the sfumatura process -- a method of extracting essential oils from citrus fruit. This is then added to neutral grain alcohol. Other ingredients include lavender, roses, chamomile, melissa balm and gentian in addition to sugar.

Grand Marnier is an orange liqueur made from a blend of cognac (51%) and bitter orange distillate (49%). To make this distillate, the bitter orange variety citrus Bigaradia is harvested and the peels are sun-dried. The peels then macerate in neutral alcohol for ~10 days before it is distilled. This bitter orange distillate is then blended with cognac and further aged in large oak vats for 1-6 months. Originally named Curaçao Marnier when created in 1880 by founder Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle, it was soon changed to Grand Marnier after friends declared it to be grand. Also called Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge or simply GrandMa by those in the bar industry.

Chambord Liqueur is a black raspberry liqueur. It is made from an infusion of raspberries and blackberries. Other ingredients include Madagascar vanilla, Moroccan citrus peel, honey, and XO cognac which the master blender balances all together to create a concentrate. Although this French liqueur is based on a recipe from the late 17th century, it wasn't released commercially until 1981. Bottled at 16.5% ABV.

Mathilde Cassis Liqueur is made with two varieties of black currants from the Burgundy region: Noir de Bourgogne and Blackdown. The fruit is infused in liquor for a lengthy period of time and is then bottled at 16 percent ABV. Cassis is essential in a variety of classic cocktails like the Kir Royale and the Diablo.

Grand Marnier Cuvée du Centenaire was first introduced in 1927 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the House of Marnier Lapostolle. Like the flagship Grand Marnier bottling, this is a blend of cognac and bitter orange distillate. However for this bottle, only XO cognacs from Grande and Petite Champagne crus are used.

Part of the Luxardo portfolio since 1821, Luxardo Cherry "Sangue Morlacco" is flavored with marasca cherry, a variety of sour cherries. Sangue Morlacco translates to “Morlacco blood,” referring to the liqueur’s deep red color and a group of people from the Dalmatian hinterland from the 17th and 18th centuries. The name was coined by Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio in 1919, after which the liqueur was renamed nearly a century after its creation.

St. Germain took the cocktail world by storm when it debuted as the first available elderflower liqueur in 2007. To make the liqueur, elderflower petals are macerated in grape eau-de-vie, with the resulting combination then sweetened. St. Germain was created by the late Robert Cooper, and is now a part of the Bacardi portfolio.

The recipe this classic liqueur is based on has been kept in the family for many generations. It's made by steeping wild English sloe berries with Hayman's original London Dry Gin for months, before the addition of sweetener. Along with sloe berries, the botanicals include juniper, coriander, lemon peel, orange peel, angelica root, cinnamon, cassia bark, orris root, licorice, and nutmeg. Bottled at 26% ABV.

Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is based on a 19th century recipe and made in consultation with cocktail historian David Wondrich. It's made by infusing bitter laraha orange peels for one week in grape spirit. Then this infusion is distilled. Separately, walnut skins and prunes are infused for several months in brandy and Pierre Ferrand cognac to create a vegetal infusion. Then the master blender blends the orange distillate, the vegetal infusion, along with brandy and Pierre Ferrand cognac. Toasted cane sugar, which is barrel aged for several months, is used to sweeten the blend. Finally, the Dry Curaçao is left to age for several months in French oak barrels before bottling.