'Spirits' (AKA 'hard liquor') is the term for all distilled alcohol - in fact, the name 'spirit' came from alchemists who believed the vapor of distillation was a 'spirit' of the original material. Technically 'spirits' and 'liqueurs' are different - spirits have no added sugar, while liqueurs do - but they tend to be lumped together. Virtually all known spirits were used as health tonics or elixirs at some point in history, but transmuted into good fun drinks over time. Many countries have their 'national' drink - gin, whisky, schnapps, grappa, ouzo, soju, vodka, rakia/rakija...there's quite a list. Experiments began with sugars and flavours - resulting in limoncello, cynar, Benedictine...that's an even longer list.
'Spirits' (AKA 'hard liquor') is the term for all distilled alcohol - in fact, the name 'spirit' came from alchemists who believed the vapor of distillation was a 'spirit' of the original material. Technically 'spirits' and 'liqueurs' are different - spirits have no added sugar, while liqueurs do - but they tend to be lumped together. Virtually all known spirits were used as health tonics or elixirs at some point in history, but transmuted into good fun drinks over time. Many countries have their 'national' drink - gin, whisky, schnapps, grappa, ouzo, soju, vodka, rakia/rakija...there's quite a list. Experiments began with sugars and flavours - resulting in limoncello, cynar, Benedictine...that's an even longer list.