What is liqueur?

Since we started selling our liqueurs, I occasionally get the question: 
such a liqueur, how do you brew it?
I invariably answer with: not. You brew beer, you distill spirits, you make liquor. 
A liqueur is a mixture of either purchased alcohol (up to 96°) or home-brewed alcohol to which you add water, sugar and other ingredients such as fruit or herbs, depending on the recipe. 

But we've been doing that for years when we impose our ... (insert your own fruit or other delicacy), right?
That's right! When you impose e.g. fruit in alcohol, you are actually making a liqueur. 
So what's different about yours? We pay a lot of attention to balancing our flavors in the search for our recipes. While imposed fruit can be very delicious, these methods often have little to no attention to balance. For example, too much sugar is added, causing the liqueur to have a sticky mouthfeel.

To be legally compliant, a liqueur must meet a number of conditions. For example, the European Commission has decided that a liqueur must contain 100 grams of sugar per liter of liquid. An exception to this are liqueurs containing cherries, sour cherries, gentian or wormwood.
Furthermore, a liqueur must contain at least 15% alcohol and aromas and "flavoring preparations" may be used. If it does not meet these conditions then you may not call the alcoholic beverage a liqueur.
I am not going to reproduce the entire legal text, that would take us too far and be too boring. Those who would like to read it in full can do so on page 43, point 33 of REGULATION (EU) 2019/787 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

Nowhere in this legal text are there conditions regarding the use of natural colors and flavors. It only refers to "flavors and flavoring preparations. This means that for liquors, the principle of anything goes is applied. As long as it is food safe, it is allowed. This opens the door to a wide range of possibilities for using artificial flavors and colors. Some of these flavors and colors are chemically identical to the flavors and colors found in nature. These are called nature-identical flavors and colors. Others are chemically different but taste/tones the same to us as consumers. 

From our vision, we very consciously choose to add only natural flavorings. We do not add dyes because we believe that the main ingredient itself determines the color. 
In this way, we also want to make a difference with others. We make a case for ourselves that using quality ingredients results in a high-quality end product. You can taste that difference.

Team Alchymiae