Chambord (liqueur) facts for kids
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| Owner | Brown-Forman |
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| Introduced | 1982 |
| Markets | Worldwide |
Chambord is a special raspberry-flavored drink. It is inspired by a sweet drink made in France a long time ago, in the late 1600s. This drink is known for its rich fruit taste. It is made from red and black raspberries, along with vanilla, citrus peel, honey, and a type of French brandy called cognac.
Since 2006, a company called Brown-Forman has owned and produced Chambord. It is sold all around the world.
Contents
History of Chambord
How Chambord Started
The Chambord brand was created in 1982 by a person named Norton "Sky" Cooper. His family had a company that made sweet drinks. The idea for Chambord came from a raspberry drink that was popular in the Loire Valley of France in the late 1600s.
People say that this old raspberry drink was even introduced to King Louis XIV of France. This happened during one of his visits to the famous Château de Chambord. Back then, it was common to enjoy sweet drinks and cognac with fancy meals.
Who Owns Chambord Now?
In 2006, the Chambord brand was bought by the Brown-Forman Corporation. They are a large company that produces many different kinds of drinks.
How Chambord is Made
Ingredients and First Steps
Chambord is made in the Loire Valley region of France. It uses real red and black raspberries. Other ingredients include vanilla from Madagascar, citrus peel from Morocco, honey, and cognac.
To start, whole raspberries and blackberries are soaked in French spirits. This soaking process takes several weeks. It helps to create a fruit infusion, which is like a strong fruit-flavored liquid.
Making the Flavor Stronger
After the first fruit infusion is taken out, more spirits are added to the same fruit. This mixture then rests for a few more weeks. This step helps to get even more flavor from the fruit.
Finally, the fruit that is left over is pressed. This pressing gets out the natural sugars and juice from the berries.
Mixing and Finishing
The fruit-flavored spirits and the juices from the pressing are then mixed together. After that, this berry mix is combined with a special blend. This blend includes cognac, natural vanilla, black raspberries, citrus peel, honey, and other herbs and spices.
The final drink is 16.5% alcohol by volume. This means that 16.5% of the drink is alcohol.
The Chambord Bottle Design
Chambord comes in a unique round bottle. It looks like a sphere. For many years, until about 2010, the bottle had a gold plastic "belt" around its middle. It also had a crown on top of its lid. The design of the bottle was inspired by a "globus cruciger," which is a ball with a cross on top, often used as a symbol of power.
Around the middle of 2010, the company changed the bottle design for the U.S. market. They updated the belt, the lid, and other parts of the bottle.
Awards and Recognition
Since 2007, Chambord has won several awards. It has received silver and bronze medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Other groups that rate drinks have also given Chambord high scores. Because of these good reviews, one rating group, Proof66, has called Chambord a "First Tier" liqueur. This means it is considered a top-quality drink.
See also
In Spanish: Chambord Liqueur Royale de France para niños
