Fruit brandy

Fruit brandy is the generic term for strong spirits, distilled from fermented fruit juice or crushed fruits other than grapes.

Usually bottled at 40-45% (80-90 proof).

Fruit brandy must not be confused with fruit-flavoured brandy, which is cheaper and usually more sweet.

Fruit brandy is usually served as after-dinner drink at room temperature in thin, stemmed brandy glasses, known as brandy snifters.

Also frequently used in cooking, mixed drinks, cocktails, and to flambé desserts and other dishes.


Two types of fruit brandy
Fruit brandies can be coloured or colourless. Apple brandy and plum brandy, for instance, are normally aged in oak barrels to add colour and additional flavour and aroma from the wood itself.

Well known fruit brandies, aged in wood, are the calvados from Normandy in France, the applejacks from the United States, and the slivovitz from Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Both calvados and applejack are distilled from apple cider and aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two years. Slivovitz is distilled from fermented plum juice or pulp and aged for several years in oak barrels.

Fruit brandy distilled from fermented whole fruits such as pears, apricots, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries are usually clear and colourless, because they are rarely aged in wooden barrels.

These fruits are normally so flavourful and aromatic on their own that the spirits will not benefit from wood aging. Clear, colourless fruit brandies are known as eaux-de-vie.

Typical eaux-de-vie are the well known kirsch from Switzerland (based on cherries and cherry pits), the framboise (based on raspberries) from the Alsace region in France, and the barack palinkas (based on apricots) from Hungary.