"One lonely saturday afternoon, sitting on my sofa i looked up an saw the bottle of herbal liquor, stitting on top of my old computer for a couple of years now,"

from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fitz_carraldo/32...

as in Jägermeister :-))

I would say "liqueur" instead of "liquor."

and herbal liqueur; of course, there's also herbal schnapps.

@ # 3 and 4 , nice French touch. :-))

It's not a French touch - they're two different things.

Schnapps has made it into English, "a strong alcoholic drink resembling gin" to quote the Compact Oxford English Dictionary http://www.askoxford.com/results/?view=dev_di...

and see http://www.storingandfreezing.co.uk/drying-pr... for what to do with surplus herbs!

Surely brandy (or schnapps, if you specifically want to evoke Jägermseister), not liqueur. Wikipedia: "A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry." Herb, herbal, herbed are probably all ok. Best of all might be flavored brandy, or is that too broad?

"Schnapps" found its way into English with a different meaning than in German. Schnapps in the U.S. is almost always a sweet, flavored, not-so-alcoholic drink (cherry schnapps etc.). Therefore, I would say that in the U.S. it is a liqueur and in Germany it is a liquor.

@9. You are undoubtedly right about US schnapps. That's out of my orbit. But liqueurs are also sweet, as the Wikigods say. Surely Kräuterschnaps is, well, "herb." If so, then, Mark, you are left with brandy as the right word.

I have to disagree with you (again), Bill. Schnapps can be very strong, such as this DeKuyper 100-proof peppermint schapps (that's 50 percent alcohol): http://www.barnonedrinks.com/tips/dictionary/...

Dude, you are right (again). However, I'm not sure that DeKuyper 100 proof is any more representative of a liqueur than Bacardi 151 is for hard liquor. My point was simply that IN GENERAL, the U.S. definition of Schnapps is not the same as the German.

And for BOTH of our enlightenment, here's a blurb from wineconnect.com.

http://store.wineconnect.com/harbor/WineDetai...

"Schnapps" are a general category for a strong cordial. In Germany Schapps refer to a fruit distilled spirit with at least 32% alcohol content, but without added sweetener, for example Kirschwasser. In France Schnapps can be called "Eau-de-Vie". American Schnapps can be referred to as cordials or liqueurs because they have added sugar with a 15-50% alcohol content and are made in a variety of flavors including peppermint, blackberry, blackcurrant, cinnamon, peach, root beer, sour apple, cherry, aniseed, apricot, and butterscotch.

"In Germany Schapps refer to ..." Right there I have my doubts, because a) "Schnaps" is spelled with only one "p," and b) "Schnaps" is not plural. :-)

You mean you wouldn't offer someone a schnapp? :)

Only if I were drunk :-)

The plural verb is obviously stupid, and the missing N, but in English it really is spelled schnapps, with two P's (and a small S, of course). File it under the same category as kaput/kaputt. Or in Spanish/AE vs. German/BE, guerrilla/guerilla. Babys, kindergartens ...

sonnet/Sonett