Cherry liqueur is really two different drinks sharing a name - the sweet dark red kind you sip, and clear dry maraschino that is distilled and belongs in a Last Word. Why maraschino comes out colourless, where vishniak fits, and the three bottles on our shelf at $16.99, $31.99 and $36.99.

Amaretto is the sweet almond-flavoured Italian liqueur, and Disaronno is the bottle almost everybody means. What the name means, why there may be no almonds in it at all, what ours costs at $39.99, and the five things worth doing with an open bottle.

Coffee liqueur is cold coffee, sugar and a neutral spirit. The espresso martini ratio that actually works, the dairy-or-pareve question nobody else explains, and which kosher bottle does which job.

The orange drink everyone is holding on a patio has a name and a job. What aperitivo means, how the 3-2-1 spritz works, what vermouth actually is, and which bottle to start with.