The Liqueur Legacy
The Mission
Our mission is to provide the liquor market – mixologists, retailers, and consumers – with uniquely flavored natural liqueurs that are on-trend and align to the idea that the creative cocktail is an essential aspect of both the social and dining experiences. We want to be both a part of and to extend the new “cocktail culture.”
This venture is about celebrating the amazing, organic botanicals that are so much a part of our lives, yet somehow have been forgotten. We want this to be a reminder. We want to fill the hole in the market for unusually flavored, botanical liqueurs.
Liqueurs are basically sweetened tinctures. In Medieval and Victorian times, tinctures and herbal medicines were sweetened following their creation to help conceal the bitter taste. ‘A spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down’ is exactly what a liqueur is. Most liqueurs of the past were used for the medicinal properties, to aid in digestion, and to help with ailments. We want to get back to this idea – healthful drinking!
The History
We have been making Cranberry liqueur as gifts for years now, which was an immediate hit with family and friends. Following experimentation with a few more flavors (and people drinking us dry) it became clear we needed to become a company to satisfy the local demand.
We found ourselves bored with the flavors of liqueur available, since we often enjoy a nip of liqueur after dinner, as a flavor for champagne, and in baking and cooking. Many currently available liqueurs are either muddied in flavor with many ingredients, variations on the same flavor, or hideously artificial and over – sweetened. We decided to venture into unusual flavors.
Cranberry was followed by Lavender, and as it was autumn, we used trimmings from our plants. It was absolutely wonderful. In that vein, we tried Rose, Chai Spice, and Birch. Our tasting panels, and our friends, were amazed. Each one really captured the essence of the plant and the flavor in a pure, new way. It was clear we were on to something special.
The idea for a company hit us at a party we hosted in 2013. We then tasted the liqueurs around to various groups and industry people. Honestly, we were waiting for someone to tell us they were horrible and we didn’t stand a chance. No one did. Everyone said we needed to get these on the market as soon as possible, with quotes of ‘Amazing,’ ‘Magic in a bottle,’ and ‘Can I buy some?’
Thus, the Hartford Flavor Company and Wild Moon were born.