neutral spirits
- noun
- /ˈnjuːtrəl ˈspɪrɪts/
- Specialized
:
aguardiente neutro
- Neutral spirits are often used to create a clear base for cocktails, ensuring the other ingredients shine through without altering the flavor.
Examples
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When making gin, it's essential to start with neutral spirits, as they provide the neutral backdrop needed for the botanicals.
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Good neutral spirits might leave me a little muzzy the next morning, but nothing like the hangovers I would get from scotch overindulgence.
Blog text (32) -
Many distilleries use high-quality neutral spirits as a foundation for their liqueurs, allowing for unique flavor infusions.
Synonyms
Very strong pure alcohol used in labs or for cleaning
A clear, flammable liquid used to make drinks like beer and wine and for cleaning and fuel
Antonyms
How Rye-Flavored
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: 'spirit' denotes a distilled alcoholic drink and 'neutral' signals lack of distinctive chemical/reactive properties or flavour, so a learner can infer this means a spirit without strong taste or colour. This makes the overall meaning — a tasteless, high‑proof distilled alcohol used for blending or production — accessible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Neutral spirits gets its name from spirits, an old word for strong alcohol, and neutral, meaning it has no strong taste or smell. Distillers make this clear, very strong alcohol as a 'blank canvas' or 'base' to mix with flavors or other drinks, which is why the term means a tasteless, high-proof alcohol used for blending.