What does cordial have to do with alcohol?

Question

I was looking up some questions about whether if you add cordial to water it is not as good for you? So the people's questions are like "If i add cordial to my 8 glasses of water a day is it not as good for me?". Or something like that. And i was reading them to find the answer..

And then so many replied with "it's not good because the water hydrates you and then the alcohol dehydrates you"

What does cordial have to do with alcohol? It just makes your drink sweet doesn't it?! Does itjust havea high alcohol content in it or something..?

Answer 1

In the US, a cordial is an after dinner alcoholic drink.  

Answer 2

In the world of distilled spirits no products are as magical as cordials and liqueurs. Products in the category encompass virtually every flavor imaginable and can be used as aperitifs,  shooters, after-dinner drinks, and components of classic cocktails.

A cordial or liqueur - the terms are used interchangeably in this country and always appear together in governmental regulations -

is made by combining distilled spirits with certain flavorings.

The original cordials are shrouded in mystery, which is not surprising since their creators were medieval alchemists. In addition to searching for the formula to transform base metals to gold, these romantic figures also searched in vain for a life-prolonging elixir. While that particular recipe was never found, many others were created in the process.

In those days these spirits had more sugar cane uses than as simple beverages. Rather than being used to stimulate the appetite or soothe digestion, cordials and liqueurs were used as medicine for various ailments, as love potions and aphrodisiacs and as cure-alls.

In fact the origin of the term cordials reflects these origins. It is derived from the Latin word cor meaning "heart", because the earliest cordials were administrated to the sick to stimulate the heart and lighten the spirit.

It is unnecessary to explain the medicinal and therapeutic values of certain seeds, herbs and roots that were used at the time as most of them are found in modern pharmacopoeia: caraway seed, coriander, angelica root, oil of orange, oil of lemon and various herbs rich in iodine are but a few.

The term liqueur also has its root in Latin, in this case liquefacere, which means to dissolve or melt and reflects the method by which a liqueur is created.

Cordials and liqueurs are usually thought of as sweet and in fact by definition they must contain at least 2.5% sugar by weight, although most cordials are considerably higher in their sugar content and many contain up to 35% of sweetening agent. The sugar may be beet, maple, cane, honey, corn or a combination of these. If the sweetening accounts for less than 10% by weight of the finished product, the resultant cordial may be labeled "dry".

Most cordials and liqueurs contain between 17% and 30% alcohol by volume, although some range up to 50%.

http://www.tasteoftx.com/spirits/cordial...