Ginger Liqueur is Totally a Thing You Want

I’m a huge ginger fan. Hand me a cocktail made with ginger beer, and I’m a happy girl. Heck, I’ll even drink a ginger ale cocktail if the spicer ginger beer option isn’t available. That’s why when Barrow’s Intense, makers of a ginger liqueur, reached out to try and meet up with me at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail last month, I was quick to respond with an enthusiastic yes.

Ginger liqueur is a thing, and I’m here to tell you, it’s absolutely delicious.

I did a tasting with Josh Morton, the owner of Barrows. He created the drink at home, somewhat by accident, when making limoncello.

If you’ve ever tried to make limoncello, you know the drill: zest a motherload of lemons, put that zest in a container with a ton of liquor (usually vodka), wait a while, and then cut your final product with sugar water to make it something you want to sip on.

Morton was making his limoncello with a little ginger in it because ginger is delicious and zesting a zillion lemons is a tedious process no one truly wants to do, so it’s easier if you replace a few lemons with some ginger instead. With each batch he removed more and more lemon and upped the ginger, until finally what he had was just a ginger liqueur rather than a lemon one.

His friends loved the stuff, he loved the stuff, and eventually, the stars aligned for him to start selling it.

Now the spirit is made at a facility in Brooklyn, and is distributed around the United States.

How do you drink it?

The answer for the most part is however you want. After our meeting Barrow’s sent me a bottle to try out. While it’s certainly great in cocktails, for me using it that way almost seems like a waste of a wonderfully delicious thing. Rather than diluting this with club soda or other liquid, I think I’ll likely stick to my trusty ginger beer or a ginger syrup when it comes to ginger cocktails.

To me, the best way to drink this is chilled, straight up. It’s delicious to sip on, and makes for a wonderful after-dinner drink.

If you like ginger, grab a bottle of this and give it a try. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.