Still Spirits Butterscotch Schnapps essence, what it does
Butterscotch schnapps is the sweet, buttery one on the back shelf that nobody admits to buying and everybody seems to finish, and making it at home is about as easy as homemade spirits get, because it's a flavouring stirred into a bought spirit with nothing to distil at all.
What the essence is
Still Spirits Butterscotch Schnapps is a 50ml liqueur flavouring. It gives you that brown sugar and butter flavour with a soft vanilla edge, and on its own it isn't a drink. It goes into a neutral spirit along with something to sweeten and thicken it, and the pack tells you exactly what goes in and how much, so follow that rather than a number off a forum.
Because it starts from a bought neutral spirit there's no distilling involved and no licence needed. Distilling your own base is a different matter and needs an excise manufacturer licence from the ATO, which is a federal rule, so it's the same answer wherever you live.
Getting the sweetness right
A schnapps liqueur is sweeter and thicker than a straight spirit, and the sweetness is the part people most often get wrong, either too thin or so sweet it's sticky. I'd make it to the pack first and then adjust, because it's easy to add a bit more sweetness to a finished batch and impossible to take it back out again. Give it a couple of days to settle before you decide.
What to do with it
- Neat and cold. Straight from the fridge in a small glass after dinner, which is how most of it gets drunk.
- Layered with Irish cream. Butterscotch schnapps with Irish cream floated over the top is the classic pairing, and it's why the two essences so often end up on the same shopping list.
- Over ice cream. A splash over vanilla ice cream is a dessert in 30 seconds.
- In a coffee. A little in a hot coffee works the way a flavoured syrup would, with a bit more warmth to it.
If you'd rather a cream liqueur
Still Spirits also make a Butterscotch Cream, which is the same flavour made up as a creamy liqueur rather than a clear schnapps. Edwards Essences have their own butterscotch schnapps essence as well if you want to compare them side by side.
Shop related products
- Still Spirits Butterscotch Schnapps 50ML. The flavouring this post is about.
- Still Spirits Butterscotch Cream 50ML. The same flavour as a cream liqueur.
- Edwards Essences Butterscotch Schnapps Essence. The Edwards version, if you want to try both.
- Samuel Willard's Butterscotch Schnapps. A premix for when you want it simpler again.
Did you know we also keep 1125ml glass spirit bottles in the shop for bottling a batch. They're not on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
- How to bottle homemade butterscotch schnapps as a gift
- Why the liqueur base matters more than the essence
- How far a 50ml spirit essence goes, and how to split a batch
Not sure which flavour to try next, Brewhilder will help, or have a look through the homebrew collection.
Butterscotch is the one flavour in the cupboard I can't be trusted to measure accurately.
Candeece
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