Brandy

Brandy, simply put, is a distilled wine. It is categorised under Distilled Alcoholic Beverages along with Whiskey, Rum, Gin, Vodka and Tequila, but it's in a way a cross connection between Fermented liquor and distilled liquor. A Brandy typically containts 35% to 60% Alcohol by Volume ( 70-120 US proof ) and is usually consumed as an after dinner digestif.

Although Brandy is generally classified as a liquor produced by distilling wine, in a broader sense, this encompasses liquors obtained from the distillation of either pomace ( the soild remains of grapes after mashing and extraction of juice for wine making ) or fruit mash or wine.

It may be noted that Brandy like Gin is also one of the original Water of Life or eau de vie, carried over from the medieval tradition of an aquaous solution of ethanol used as a medicine.

The history of Brandy is closely tied to the development of commercial distillation in and around the 15th Century. In early 15th Century French Brandy made way for a new cross-Atlantic trade or Triangle Trade and replaced Portuguese Fortified Wine or Port from the central role it played in trade, mostly due to the higher alcohol content of the Brandy and ease of transport. However by the late 17th Century, Rum replaced Brandy as the exchange alcohol of choice in the Triangle Trade. More info on Wikipedia for the interested Brandy aficionados. Note that an Apricot Brandy can refer to the liquor (or Eau de Vie, Water of Life) distilled from fermented apricot juice or a liqueur made from apricot flesh and kernels.

Jamaican Dark Rum

Dark Rums have molasses as their main ingredient, the dark liquor has a full bodied flavour of spices and caramel and is a favourite drink with Cola and is part of so many cocktails.

The term Dark Rum is not a legal definition but it generally refers to any rum that is dark brown in appearance due to ageing or from additional molasses or caramel.

The colour of Dark Rum varies from Gold to Black, depending on the years of ageing in the vat.

Triple Sec

Triple-Sec is an Orange flavoured liqueur from France. It is made by macerating sun dried orange peel in alcohol for a day or more before a three step distillation. Triple Sec has a 15% to 40% ABV.

The Triple Sec name refers to the process of distillation. Sec in French means dry or distilled and triple refers to the triple distillation process.

It's been a popular liqueur for more than 150 years, the Dutch East India Company created orange liqueurs by steeping orange peels in alcohol from the island of Curaçao and called it Curaçao liquor, and unlike Triple Sec, the Dutch added spices and herbs to the orange and Curaçao comes in a variety of colours such as clear, orange or blue. Blue Curaçao being the most used of them, in cocktails. Triple Sec is made from neutral spirits and the Orange peel used is harvested from oranges that have the skin still green, so that the essential oils are still in the skin and has not been absorbed into the flesh. This gives Triple Sec the intense flavour.

Pineapple Juice

Rich in antioxidants, this juice pressed from the pulp of the Pineapple is a good protection against cell degeneration, It contains bromelain, a group of enzymes known to reduce inflammation, improve digestion and boost immunity. In drink mixing, there is nothing like the tropical flavour of pineapple juice to add that tropical freshness and nuance to a cocktail.

In drink mixing pineapple having a fruity tropical aroma pineapple juice is a good companion for tropical fruits such as mango, banana, passion fruit, and also pairs well with oranges and grapefruit juice.

Pineapple juice is the juice pressed out of the pulp of the pineapple fruit, several varieties of pineapple are used to manufacture commercial pineapple juice. High on Vitamin C and enzymes that have been shown to activate healthy immune response, it’s a good juice to start a day. The enzyme bromelain in pineapple juice, triggers analgesic response in the body to fight pain and reduce swelling. In cocktails, Pineapple juice goes best with Vodka and is often a regular juice in many Vodka cocktails.

Bitters

Alcoholic spirits infused with botanicals such as herbs, roots, fruits and leaves, are called Bitters.
Bitters consist of water and alcohol which has been steeped with various herbs, fruits, leaves etc. Bitters are not to be drank neat or even as the base spirit of a cocktail, these are usually concentrated alcoholic concoctions and just a dash or a few drops are all we need to add that taste to a cocktail.
There are exceptions and some bitters like the Italian Amari is consumed without mixing in a cocktail. It has a bitter sweet taste and alcohol content is somewhere between 16%-40%. Generally in Europe its being consumed as an after dinner digestif.

Cherry

Although the name is Brandy, Cherry Brandy is not a Brandy since Brandy is produced by distillation of wine, pomace or fruit mash, where as Cherry Brandy is produced by macerating cherries in neutral spirit, Vodka to be specific in it's case, it is not even macerated in any Brandy, so technically it is not a Brandy and it doesn't contain Brandy either, although some brands might add some Brandy but that's not a legal requirement. Cherry Brandy is a liqueur, and thus it is also known as Cherry Brandy Liqueur.

Cherry Brandy Liqueur is usually flavoured using spices such as cinnamon and cloves. One distinctive speciality of distillation of the cherry infused spirit is that the pot still for distillation has to be copper instead of stainless steel, copper helps produce a smoother distillate and most importantly removes the cyanide produced when cherries are distilled

Cherry Liqueur is a sweetened liqueur made from different spirit bases of which Brandy is the most common base for macerating and infusing cherry and making the liqueur, and that is why cherry liqueur is often called Cherry Brandy.

Note that there's Kirsch or Kirschwasser, an unsweetened eau de vie distilled from cherries, and it is often called cherry brandy too. But you can't use Kirsch and Cherry Liqueur interchangeably since the liqueur is sweet and the other is not.

One of the most known Cherry Liqueur is Maraschino Cherry Liqueur, made from Marasca cherries.

Cherry Mix is a mix of different dried cherries like Bing Cherries and Tart Cherries, sweetened and if store bought, will have preservatives added for shelf life. In Europe, specially in Italy, specific cocktail cherry cultivars are in use, cherries like Morello and Montmorency are the traditional choices, and Marasca, a Morello variety grown in Italy is popular world over as the Maraschino Cherry Mix.

Maraschino Cherries are preserved, sweetened cherry, typically light coloured cherries like Royal Ann, Rainier and Gold varieties are used. Maraschino Cherries are used in many cocktails and Tequila Sunrise and Queen Mary are too bright examples.
The name Maraschino originates from the marasca cherry of the Dalmatian region, Maraschino Liqueur is made from it, and the marasca cherries that were macerated to create the pre-distillation liquor, were pickled and preserved for use, the steeping in spirit helped in the preservation, and since the production of these cherries and their alcohol pickle was scarce, the Maraschino Cherry, as they were known in Croatia because of it's origin in the Maraschino Liqueur making process, became a delicacy of the royalty and the wealthy across Europe.
Due to scarcity of the Marasca Cherry the Maraschino pickled cherry soon no more just Marasca cherries, other cherries were preserved in the same method and were sold as "Maraschino Cherry".
In USA, in 1912, the USDA defined Maraschino Cherries as Marasca cherries preserved in Maraschino Liqueur, but since Prohibition from 1920, alcohol preserved cherries fell out of preference and regulations prevented cherries from being pickled in alcohol too, and different brining methods were invented that produced pickled cherries that were far from the Maraschino Cherry that they claimed to be.
Most modern versions of Maraschino Cherries have little or no alcohol, and since post prohibition, under the pressure from the non-alcoholic preserved cherry industry, the FDA redefined Maraschino Cherries as "cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar, and packed in a sugar syrup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor" since 1940.

Cherry Juice is a fruit juice as obvious from the name, and it is marketed as a health supplement. It is produced by hot or cold pressing cherries, and then filtering and pasteurising it.
In alcoholic beverages, fermented cherry juice is used to distill cherry fruit brandy.
Cherry juice is often used in beer too. Belgian Kriek lambic is a distinctive beer, amde from the ferment of sweetened cherry juice.
In mixed drinks, cherry juice is best mixed with club soda, orange or apple juice. The tart flavour of cherry juice adds a nice twist to cocktails.

Cherry Heering is a Danish Cherry Liqueur created by Peter Heering in 1818. The Ruby Red liqueur is made by soaking lightly crushed Danish cherries and spices in neutral grain spirit. The mixture is then matured in casks for up to five years, sugar is added during the aging process.

Note: It is a good substitute for Maraschino Liqueur in cocktails, but Cherry Heering is sweeter with a more pronounced cherry flavour and unlike Maraschino Liqueur which is a clear spirit, Cherry Heering is a Ruby Red and will affect the colour of the cocktail.

Cherry Lambrini is a fruity perry or pear cider ( a perry is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, similar to a cider ) manufactured in Liverpool by Halewood International. Lambrini is available in 6% ABV, Original and Luci ( 3.4% ABV) and Cherry, Peach and Strawberry Lambrini all at 5% ABV.