Delectable Digestifs: After Dinner Drinks to End Your Night In Style

What Are After Dinner Drinks?

Typically served in small measures, and often offering flavours that would complement desserts or cheese, after dinner drinks should serve as the perfect nightcap and leave your guests feeling comfortable after eating a lot of rich food. They tend to be slightly sweeter drinks (such as Port or a liqueur), and high in alcohol content (again, we’re talking fortified wines, and sipping spirits).

With so many styles of alcohol out there, we thought we’d simplify things for you with a handy list of the very best after dinner drinks to end your party in style.

Types of Brandy to Serve After Dinner

Brandy is a fantastic after dinner drink option. Usually made by distilling wine (although occasionally made with apples and pears rather than grapes), brandy goes through a production method that results in a rich palate and smooth, comforting texture.

The distillation process also supercharges the alcohol content to somewhere between 35% to 60%, which is another reason it works so well as an after dinner drink. A boozy brandy is said to stimulate certain organs in the body that help to break down food, and offers a warm, subtly sweet mouthfeel and smooth finish.

Flavours to expect from a classic French brandy such as Cognac include citrus, caramelised fruit, leather, spice and nut, while an Armagnac offers a fuller mouthfeel and notes of apricot, prune, toffee, chocolate and black pepper. Made from apples and pears, Calvados presents a much fruiter palate, along with notes of baking spices and floral aromas.

Whichever you choose to serve after your meal, make sure you pour into a balloon glass (or ‘snifter’) so that your guest can wrap their hands around it and warm the brandy as they drink it (doing this intensifies the aromas coming out of the glass!).

Types of Liqueur to Serve After Dinner

Liqueurs work well as after dinner drinks due to their high alcohol content that help to stimulate the stomach after a large meal. Vastly different from what your brandy-drinking guests are after, these spirits are loaded with big flavours (any ingredient can be used to create these) and extra sugar that’ll appeal much more to your guests who have a sweet tooth.

Ranging from 15% to 55% ABV, liqueurs vary hugely in strength, as well as flavour, so it can be hard to narrow down the best ones to serve after a meal. The key here is to look for higher alcohol examples that express flavours that’ll suit the mood.

A citrus or spiced liqueur is always a welcome addition to any meal, such as The King’s Ginger Liqueur or the delightful Rose Rabbit Orange Liqueur. Like any liqueur, these are intensely rich in flavour and syrupy in texture, but they also offer much higher alcohol content than most and won’t be sickly sweet.

For classic crowd-pleasers, Limoncello will always go down well with your guests. Lemon is said to have a calming effect on the body, which possibly explains why we find Limoncello’s vibrant lemon aroma and palate soothing after stuffing our faces with food! Alternatively, for those who like to end a meal with coffee, you can’t go wrong with a delicious coffee liqueur, like this Conker Spirit Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur.

Types of Whisky to Serve After Dinner

Whisky has got to be one of the popular after dinner drinks around. Whether enjoyed neat, on the rocks or in an Old Fashioned, many adore the distinct flavours and smooth texture of a well made whisky.

It’s a go-to tipple for many as they unwind at the end of the night not only for its flavours, but also because it can help ease an upset stomach (thanks to the high alcohol content stimulating the stomach to hurry up and do its thing!).

The ultimate style for many whisky drinkers is Scottish Whisky (aka ‘Scotch’). Loved the world over for its undeniable quality, whisky produced in Scotland is famously complex in aroma and flavour, often with a trademark smokiness from the peat that’s used in the blend. This is the style to go for if your guest fancies a whisky with woody notes and hints of leather and spice.

Irish Whiskey, on the other hand, is lighter in style and smoother, too. Usually unpeated, it offers mellower flavours than Scotch, such as fruit and honey. While North American Bourbon whisky is even sweeter, with flavours like toffee, coconut and vanilla. As with any drink, it all comes down to personal taste, but it’s the presence of peat that’ll divide the whisky fans at your dinner table.

Types of Rum to Serve After Dinner

Another fabulous after dinner drink to round off a good evening with is with a deep and flavoursome sipping rum.

A bit of oak ageing adds enticing notes of dried fruit, coconut, toffee and spice, making dark rum (aged for several years) the most ideal type of rum for a cosy, late night drink to settle the stomach. Dark rum also tends to be full-bodied and irresistibly silky, so it’s an all-round winner for those who are in the mood for a smooth sipping spirit.

Golden rum spends a bit of time in oak too, which is what gives it that lovely warm hue. It’s rich and sweeter than dark rum, and good for mixing in long drinks and cocktails, as well as sipping neat.

Similarly, spiced rum is aged and easy-drinking, and is essentially the same as golden rum but with spice flavourings added. With tropical notes of coconut and banana at the core, serve these lighter rums to your guests who enjoy their spirits on the sweeter side.

Types of Fortified Wine to Serve After Dinner

Fortified wine, of course, makes our list of after dinner drinks, too.

Rich in flavour and sitting at nearly 20% ABV, this is the style of wine to go for at the end of your fabulous feast as it’s stronger than dry wine and therefore better for digestion. It’s also sweeter than dry wine, making it perfect alongside chocolates, cheese and other treats that may still be sat on the table.

One of the best styles to enjoy as a nightcap is Sherry. Made from white grapes, Sherry is an extremely versatile wine that can actually be enjoyed as an aperitif (dry styles of Sherry) or as a digestif (sweeter styles). Cream Sherry and Pedro Ximénez ‘PX’ Sherry are the ones to open at this point in the dinner party. Offering luscious textures, toasty aromas and sweet notes of caramel, these are a match made in heaven for your luxury chocolates and after dinner mints.

And finally, we bring our after-dinner drinks guide to an elegant end with the ever-popular Port. Wonderfully rich, deeply fruity and (perhaps most importantly of all) phenomenal with cheese and chocolate, this red grape fortified wine is everything you want in a classy digestif, and more. Whether you go for a fruity Ruby Port or a more complex style that’s seen a fair bit of ageing, serve in a very small glass at room temperature to give your guests the ultimate end of the meal experience.