Post #376859 by TorchGuy on Mon, Apr 28, 2008 8:42 PM

The best selections I've ever seen of minibottles were at: BevMo stores in CA, and Bonanza, a gigantic novelty souvenir store in Las Vegas.

Maraschino liqueur is tasty stuff - I drink it straight, but it does mix well, with gin and other things. I've seen two brands, Stock and Luxardo, with Luxardo being the best by far.

Pernod is a fairly sweet licorice/anise flavor. Pernod, Ouzo, Sambuca and Pastis are all similar, but different in subtle ant sometimes important ways, the way Triple Sec, Curacao, Cointreau and Grand Marnier are similar yet different.

My favorite exotic liqueurs, aside from Maraschino, are:
Damiana - Dominican liqueur with smokey, honey flavors. Comes in nifty "earth goddess" bottle.
Agavero - Tequila and Damiana. More smokey, honey flavors plus that agave taste of good tequila.
St. Germain - Elderflower liqueur. Really amazing, almost magical stuff, very sweet but sweetness cut by a slight tang.

I've seen all three in minis at BevMo, and these may be available shipped from their website. Damiana and St. Germain are goood in drinks for stumping your guests - they'll never guess the mystery ingredient.

Not sure how well they go into Polynesian cocktails, though they might work in small amounts or as floats... I also find herbal liqueurs fascinating. Everyone knows Chatreuse (green and sweeter yellow) and Benedictine, but there's also Liquore Strega, a saffron-colored sweet Italian one, and Danziger Goldwasser, a German one (produced since the late 1500s) containing big flakes of gold leaf. I have seen minis of Strega only, but BevMo has both of these, too.