the library

Gentian liqueur

Spirits & brews· liqueur

What it is

Gentian liqueur is a liqueur, such as Suze or Salers, made by macerating or distilling gentian root with alcohol.

What it tastes like

The house reads it as alpine, honeyed, herbal ✳ — a known palate, not yet a cited measurement. Among its measured molecules: gentiopicroside, loganic acid, amarogentin, sweroside, swertiamarin.

Every one of its 7 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

• gentiopicrosidearomasugarMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  2.22 to 905.10 mg/L across the seven gentian liqueurs (L-1 2.22, L-2 4.01, L-3 905.10, L-4 4.45, L-5 66.06, L-6 56.53, L-7 661.31); the paper's Introduction names gentiopicroside as gentian root's main bitter-tasting secoiridoid glycoside — Gibitz-Eisath et al. 2022, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 5 (Quantitative Results for Compounds 1-9 in Different G. radix Liqueur Samples; All Values Are in mg L-1 Liqueur), column 5, rows L-1 to L-7; compound numbering fixed in Results section 2.2)
• loganic acidaromaacidMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  below the limit of quantitation in L-4 and from 13.27 to 181.78 mg/L in the other six liqueurs; the paper reports that in two samples (L-1, L-2) loganic acid was the dominant compound of the nine — Gibitz-Eisath et al. 2022, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 5, column 6, rows L-1 to L-7)
• amarogentinaromasugarMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  3.55 to 49.64 mg/L across the seven gentian liqueurs; the paper describes amarogentin as 'the most bitter natural product known to date' — Gibitz-Eisath et al. 2022, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 5, column 7, rows L-1 to L-7; Results)
• swerosidearomasugarMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  4.09 to 85.31 mg/L across the seven gentian liqueurs; identified by the paper as the major compound of the nine in part of the sample set — Gibitz-Eisath et al. 2022, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 5, column 4, rows L-1 to L-7)
• swertiamarinaromasugarMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  below the limit of quantitation in L-1 and from 9.75 to 44.68 mg/L in the other six liqueurs; one of the bitter-tasting secoiridoid glycosides the paper's Introduction names alongside gentiopicroside — Gibitz-Eisath et al. 2022, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 5, column 3, rows L-1 to L-7)
• gentisinaromaphenolMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  3.55 to 65.29 mg/L across the seven gentian liqueurs; a xanthone, quantified at 232 nm — Gibitz-Eisath et al. 2022, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 5, column 1, rows L-1 to L-7)
• isogentisinaromaphenolMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  1.85 to 41.88 mg/L across the seven gentian liqueurs; the xanthone isomer of gentisin, quantified at 232 nm — Gibitz-Eisath et al. 2022, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 5, column 2, rows L-1 to L-7)