Eau de vie

A French term for an alcoholic beverage that is distilled from fermented fruit to produce a clear brandy or liqueur. In French, eau de vie means "water of life" which is used to describe a beverage that is distilled from young fruit and rarely stored in wood. The spirit has a freshness and aroma that captures the essence of the fruit, unlike wines that rely on aging with oxygen and storage containers to create a more complex mixture of depth, weight, color, and taste. Typical spirits in this category are kirsch, a cherry-based beverage or framboise, which is made from raspberries. This spirit is also known as eaux de vie or eau-de-vie. In Scandinavian countries a similar beverage is referred to as aqua vitae, aquavit, aquavite, akvavit, or snaps. And in Italy, grappa is an eau de vie.