The history of distillation abounds with quirky myths and legends, entertaining half-truths, and embellishments that infuse the identity of various spirits and beverages, be it a barroom staple or an under-the-radar industry handshake.
The niche Italian liqueur alchermes (or alkermes) falls firmly into the latter category—if you know, you know. It’s a drink soaked in fascinating, complex history and one that’s existed for centuries, yet even today it’s rarely found outside Italy.
Once a drink of royalty and statesmen and a highly valued physician’s remedy for all manner of ills, alchermes has gone through a series of transformations over the centuries. Some led to more success than others, culminating in a decline in popularity through the late 19th and 20th centuries.
However, while the Italians now primarily use alchermes as an ingredient in traditional desserts such as zuppa inglese, one American brand is leading its resurrection as a characterful sipping liqueur and cocktail ingredient.
More than a Millennium
Heirloom Liqueurs, a sibling brand of Milwaukee-based craft bitters company Bittercube, grew out of ongoing R&D by Bittercube cofounder Ira Koplowitz and director of operations Brandon Reyes.
The two launched Heirloom as an outlet for their experimentation with whole botanical maceration; they also wanted to explore historic (as well as new) recipes that bring something distinctive to market. As they prepared to launch Heirloom in 2019, they decided that their initial lineup of Pineapple Amaro, Creme De Flora, and Genepy needed one more addition.
“A lineup of those three products felt a little unbalanced,” Reyes says. “We thought we could use something that was wildly different from any of those.”
Reyes already was intrigued by the prospect of making little-known alchermes, with its distinctive notes of rosewater and spice, and its vibrant, insect-derived red color. Alchermes is far from unique in its use of cochineal, which was included in the original recipe for Campari. However, alchermes predates Campari’s 1860 invention by several centuries, its first recorded existence being from the Golden Age of Baghdad around the 9th century.
Originally, the key coloring ingredient was Kermes vermilio, a cousin of Dactylopius coccus, the cochineal beetle. As opposed to cochineal’s preferred diet of pricky pear cactus, Kermes vermilio feeds on Mediterranean oak. Originally medicinal, early recipes included precious ingredients such as ambergris, cinnamon, gold leaf, musk, pulverized lapis lazuli, and white pearls—a far cry from modern incarnations, and a much more expensive one. The upper echelon of society credited this pricy preserve with all kinds of cures, from heart palpitations to melancholy.
Trade routes took alchermes to Europe, where it gained popularity at Renaissance courts. Colonization led to the switching out of Kermes vermilio for cochineal, freshly arrived from the New World and much more potent. Unbeknownst to their European colonizers, indigenous populations in Latin America were familiar with the purported medicinal properties of cochineal. They soon became apparent to European physicians, who, by the 17th century, were heralding it as something of a miracle substance. Casanova used it as a love potion, King Charles II took some on his deathbed, women received it during labor, and doctors prescribed it as an antidote to poison.
The Dominican monks of Florence created their own alchermes liqueur in 1743. They omitted the more extravagant ingredients, replacing them with essences of cloves, nutmeg, and orange blossoms, all steeped in sugar and rosewater; the precise recipe was a closely guarded secret. Although initially sold as a restorative tonic, its sweet-spiced flavor found its way to the Italian dining table, and it was the Dominican pharmacy’s bestseller into the early 19th century. However, tastes change; its star was eclipsed by Campari, and its use was relegated to traditional Tuscan desserts.
Dialing in a New World Revival
At Heirloom, Reyes and team decided that alchermes would be a perfect fit for their whole-botanical maceration process.
They cross-referenced modern and historic alchermes recipes from various texts, including Renato Vicario’s Italian Liqueurs, L' Art de Faire Les Vins D'Imitation by Joseph-François Audibert, A Treatise on the Manufacture and Distillation of Alcoholic Liquors by Pierre Duplais, and Markus Kobold’s Liquore D’Erbe e Grappe Medicinale. By pulling together a wide range of sources, the team used a process of trial and error to fine-tune their desired product, which they achieved in just four attempts—compared to 13 tries for their Pineapple Amaro, a recipe they created from scratch.
“Alchermes was more of a reproduction made to suit our palates,” Reyes says. “The target was much clearer.”
Heirloom had very clear goals when building their alchermes recipe. They wanted to preserve the liqueur’s integrity and key ingredients: cochineal beetle, spices, and rose water. However, they also wanted to put their own creative stamp on it, including raising its ABV from the traditional 20 to 30 percent ABV to a more robust 40 percent.
“We did not add anything we didn’t find in our research, but we decided to keep it high proof,” Reyes says. “We felt this was appropriate, as we intended our alchermes to be equally viable in the bar aside from the kitchen, so the additional proof makes it more cocktail friendly. Also, at this proof, it can hold its own against cocktail bullies like big smoky mezcals and scotches, high-ester rums, even baijiu and arrack.”
Selecting ingredients from such a broad historic range gave Heirloom the scope to be both authentic and unique at once. They could also pick and choose from different incarnations to create the version that they liked best, anchoring their recipe with the key combination of cochineal and rose water.
“We use orris root, which we only saw in one or two of the historical recipes,” Reyes says. “We thought it worked well in harmonizing the bold spices with the rose water, while adding a lovely note of violet and a gentle earthiness.”
Conversely, there were others they ruled out. They omitted jasmine as well as bitter barks and roots from older recipes; those took the liqueur too far from its dessert-like profile and too close to that of Campari. “It was important to us to have this be as different from Campari as possible,” Reyes says.
They wanted to give Heirloom Alchermes its own distinct identity.
Making a Name
Creating an identity for Alchermes in the United States has been one of the biggest challenges for Heirloom.
“We often find ourselves giving history lessons before we even start talking about what it tastes like,” Reyes says.
That education extends to both drinkers and mixologists. Reyes and team develop Alchermes-based cocktail recipes, which they share online and with bartenders—for example, at Bittercube’s annual Botanical Battle Royale event, which involves a distillery tour, extensive tasting, and education session at the brand’s Apothecary tasting room in Milwaukee.
Practical positioning is key for mixologists keen to work with Alchermes, which Heirloom pegs as an aromatic spice liqueur.
“This is a loose category [that] we think things like allspice dram fall into, since it covers both spicy and floral notes,” Reyes says.
Alchermes is surprisingly versatile. Reyes says it can pair well with aged spirits, because of its spice profile, and that it works well in Manhattan and Boulevardier variations with whiskeys and cognacs. It also works with aged rums in tiki applications, he says, and the spice can hold up to the bold smokiness of a mezcal or scotch. Finally, it can also succeed in smaller amounts as an accent to gins and floral liqueurs, or as an aromatic rinse or spritz.
Heirloom Alchermes has been appearing at various well-known cocktail bars and restaurants across the country. One keen advocate is JR Mocanu, co-owner of Public Parking Bar, a James Beard Award semifinalist in Madison, Wisconsin.
“I love working with Heirloom Alchermes liqueur because of its distinct Turkish Delight flavor,” he says. Mocanu and team won the 2025 Botanical Battle Royale Judge’s Choice Award for their Alchermes-forward Post-Service Séance cocktail—an imaginative mix of Rooster Rojo Blanco, Heirloom Pineapple Amaro, Alchermes, citrus, and bitters.
While still flying relatively under the radar, as both drinkers and mixologists hunt for wider flavor profiles and different ingredients, the interplay of dewy floral notes and warm spice in Alchermes make it a strong candidate to gain wider popularity.
“We are fortunate to be living in a wonderful time where both bartenders and patrons remain deeply curious and excited to experiment with new products,” Reyes says. “Alchermes occupies a unique space in the back bar.”