Which Liqueurs Crystallize When Dehydrated?
October 18, 2011
In the Solid Liquids Project I've experimented with various methods to dehydrate liqueurs into solids. I've found that not every liqueur does crystallize through conventional heating methods to boil off the alcohol and water. Ones that do not crystallize usually leave a thick, sticky, gummy glob at the bottom of their container.
I have not figured out why some liqueurs don't crystallize, though I've had some theories.
Here is my list of liqueurs I've tried to crystallize (most of them in silicone cupcake cups in the oven) and whether or not it worked.
Liqueur Crystallization
Liqueur | Crystallizes? | Notes |
Campari | Yes | |
Midori | Yes | |
Amaretto | Yes | |
Luxardo Maraschino | Yes | |
Green Chartreuse | Yes | |
Rhum Clement Creole Shrub | Yes | |
Emmett's Irish Cream | Yes | Dairy |
Aperol | Yes | |
Tuaca | Yes | |
Hiram Walker Triple Sec | Yes | |
Licor 43 | Yes | |
Creme de Violette | Yes | |
DeKuyper Peppermint Schnapps | Yes | |
Pallini Limoncello | Yes | Beet sugar |
Disaronno | Yes | |
Luxardo Bitter | Yes | |
Cointreau | Yes | Beet Sugar |
Mandarin Napoleon | Yes | |
The King's Ginger | Yes | |
Wild Turkey American Honey | No | Honey |
X-Rated Fusion Liqueur | No | Fruit Juice |
Hypnotiq | No | Fruit Juice |
Irish Mist | No | Honey |
Courvoisier Rose | No | Fruit Juice |
Velvet Falernum | No- Squishy, thick | |
Hiram Walker Gingerbread Liqueur | No- Mostly Solid | |
Combier Roi Rene Rouge | No- Mostly Solid | Cherry Juice? |
Firelit | No- Hard puck | |
Potters Creme de Cacao | No-Thick, Squishy | |
Hiram Walker Blueberry Schnapps | No- Soft Squishy | |
Patron Citronge | No-Soft, squishy | |
Barenjager | No- Crusty top gel beneath | Honey |
Drambuie | No- Crusty top gel beneath | Honey |
St.Germain | No- Crusty top gel beneath | |
Cynar | No- Crusty top gel beneath | |
Solerno | No- Gel | |
J. Witty Chamomile | No- Crusty top thick gel beneath | Agave? |
Benedictine | No- Crusty top gel beneath | Honey |
Cherry Heering | No- Dense Gel | |
Root | No- Solid Puck | |
Kahlua | No- Full volume gel | |
Domaine de Canton | No- Gel | |
VEEV | No- Crisp, glassy puck | |
Ancho Reyes | No- Crisp, glassy puck | |
Creme Yvette | No- soft gel puck | |
Bols Yogurt | No- brown, crisp | |
Allspice Dram | No- thick gel | |
Rothman & Winter Apricot | brittle clump | |
Drambuie 15 | No- Crisp, sticky clear candy | |
Pimm's | No- glassy shattering candy |
It is possible that your results may differ for some of these, or that you have tried other liqueurs with successes and failures to share. If so, please let me know in the comments.
The Solid Liquids Project index is at this link.
I think it's interesting that Solerno and Patron Citronge do not dehydrate, while other orange liqueurs like Cointreau do. I would LOVE to know what's going on there - it holds the key to most of this mystery of what dehydrates and what does not.
Posted by: Camper English | October 18, 2011 at 02:02 PM
What about Grand Marnier?
Posted by: jentiki | October 18, 2011 at 02:45 PM
Ran out!
Posted by: Camper English | October 18, 2011 at 03:01 PM
My first thought would be the type and/or quality of sugar used in the liqueur. Honey obviously doesn't work. Have you tried to dehydrate different types of sugar syrups to see if there is a difference? Say, honey vs corn syrup vs simple syrup vs molasses and so on.
Posted by: Johnueding | October 18, 2011 at 11:40 PM
I saw Cynar didn't fully dehydrate, which is weird since it's another Campari product and both Campari and Aperol dehydrated. Is there anything different that is being done during Cynar's production that could affect it? I've done both campari and aperol dehydrations at home, so maybe i'll do Cynar next and see what's going on! Thanks for all the amazing work Camper!
Posted by: Brian Means | October 19, 2011 at 09:17 AM
Yeah that stood out as weird to me also. Would love some double-checking!
Posted by: Camper English | October 19, 2011 at 09:21 AM
I haven't, only because I still don't know the true sweetening agent in almost any of these liqueurs. Even the honey flavored ones could be sweetened with something else as well; high fructose corn syrup for example. I may start with some producers who will honestly tell me what's in the products to gather information. I'm guessing that it's not exclusively the sweetening agents, but something else that interferes with crystallization even when it's cane/beet sugar used.
Posted by: Camper English | October 19, 2011 at 09:25 AM
What would be the temperature setting to do this in an oven? The technique page said low temperature but I was hoping for an ideal temperature range. Thanks!
Posted by: SpiritedAlchemy | October 19, 2011 at 10:49 AM
The lowest mine goes is 140F so I put it somewhere between there and 170F.
http://www.alcademics.com/2011/08/solid-liquids-dehydrating-liqueurs-in-the-oven.html
Posted by: Camper English | October 19, 2011 at 10:52 AM
If I had to guess, the gels are probably due to alcohol extracted soluble fiber (one of which might be pectin). Solernao and Patron have dissolved agave solids, and it looks like there is a high level of herbal/plant extracts in the others. I, of course, am guessing, but as a foodie with a heavy chemistry background, that is likely.
Posted by: Tarc | January 22, 2012 at 11:03 AM
Thanks! A few should have herb and plant extracts, though I think the majority are fruit/berry. I am working on some new experiments that might help.
Posted by: Camper English | January 22, 2012 at 02:58 PM
I've been getting the exact same result as you with the different liqueurs. I've been using the oven method between 140*F and 180*F. Any liqueurs that end up becoming syrup, I dissolve in water and the make into ice cubes. I'm a bit OCD about recycling my experiments. Ha! The St Germaine ice cubes helped make a delicious homemade strawberry and pomegranate soda.
Posted by: Jeff | April 30, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Nice - I was going to try ice cubes next. I'm glad to hear your experiments' results are the same.
Posted by: Camper English | April 30, 2012 at 11:06 AM
I wanted to add to this, I had French Vanilla ciroc and it also crystallized its so pretty and clear
Posted by: Mizzy | May 22, 2021 at 06:32 PM
@Mizzy - Thank you. Normally vodka shouldn't crystallize but flavored vodkas can have added sugar so that explains it.
Posted by: Camper English | May 24, 2021 at 02:00 PM
Do you think champagne would work? Although I'm more interesting in keeping it as shards rather than powder (I want to use it to garnish a dessert).
Posted by: Bea | April 18, 2024 at 12:55 PM
@Bea - I think you'd need to add sugar to get it to crystallize into something, but regardless for the purposes you have in mind I bet a different technique would be better. Perhaps check on https://modernistpantry.com/
Posted by: Camper English | April 18, 2024 at 01:24 PM