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.

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.

Tia Maria Coffee Liqueur

Coffee liqueur is a liqueur produced by steeping roasted coffee, sugar and other ingredients in neutral spirit. The most famous coffee liqueur brands are Kahlua and Tia Maria, Kahlua has been made in Mexico since 1936.

However Kahlua has a thick buttery taste, that doesn't always appeal to the preferences of an alcoholic beverage lover. Which is why many people enjoy coffee liqueur made using their own home recipes.

Typical ingredients of coffee liqueur include liquor, espresso coffee, roasted coffee bean (and powder), sugar, and vanilla syrup.

The characteristic flavor of coffee along with over a couple of hundreds compounds contribute to the taste of coffee liqueur. Caffeine is a major ingredient of coffee, and also might be a taste factor that influences the complex flavour profile that appeal to coffee liqueur drinkers' palate. Reference - International Journal of Engineering & Advanced Technology (IJEAT)

NOTE: In the absence of a Coffee Liqueur like Kahlua or Tia Maria, to make cocktails with Coffee Liqueur, Coffee Liqueur Syrup can be used as a substitute with the proportionate alcohol substituted with a triple distilled neutral Vodka.

Hot Coffee

Coffee or roasted coffee beans brewed in hot water, is the most popular drink that probably competes only with tea in the non-alocholic beverages category. Coffee being a rich source of caffeine it can help the human body overcome fatigue and improve physical performance and also lower risks of several conditions like Type II Diabetes, Cancer and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Coffee liqueur is a popular and brands like Kahlua and Tia Maria are regulars in cocktails, but often brewed non alcoholic coffee is used in cocktails too, hot black coffee with Rum and whipped cream is what makes a Troical Coffee Cocktail for you, and being a caffeine rich liquid, it is a strange combination with alcohol since it tends to interact with the body and do just the opposite of what alcohol does, that it, tries to keep you alert and awake.

Sugar

Brown Sugar is a sucrose sugar with a distinctive brown colour from the presence of molasses, it is a partially refined or unrefined sugar containing sugar crystals and residual molasses giving it a distinctive taste and flavour of crystallised molasses or toffee. The taste of dark brown sugar is described as a caramel taste with a deep molasses flavour.
Brown sugar is used in cocktails where a caramel candy or toffee flavour is expected.

Caster Sugar is finely ground granulated sugar. It is not as fine a powdered confectioners' sugar and has a little grit to it. It is somewhere between confectioners' sugar and granulated sugar, and melts in mouth with a mild spicy feel to the tongue

Vanilla Sugar is the regular granulated sugar infused with vanilla flavour, by using vanilla pods and seeds to flavour the sugar. A home made alternative is to use vanilla sticks or pods in a jar of sugar and leave it sealed for 4 weeks to allow the vanilla flavour to infuse. Or to use granulated sugar and vanilla extract and blend in a mixer, although this ends up in powdered sugar.