Cut brandy is a liquor made of brandy, neutral grain spirit and water. Sometimes, sugar is used to soften taste. It is often colored with caramel color. Grades Most cut brandies are graded by the relative amount of brandy it contains. Grades are represented by stars. 0 stars, almost no brandy at all, only some bringing color to the grain liquor. 1 star, one quarter (1/4) of brandy 2 stars, half of brandy (seldom used) 3 stars, three quarters (3/4) of brandy Regional variants Finland The Finnish Jaloviina ("noble Brännvin", colloquially Jallu) is a cut cognac with 38% (one star) or 40% (three stars) ABV. It has a strong taste and 4–7 grams of sugar per liter, depending on the grade. Special or vintage batches are also bottled, these may have slightly higher alcohol and sugar content. The brandy used for Jaloviina is cognac. Jaloviina Tammi is a limited-edition bottling to celebrate the Finnish independence. Because of the stars used to grade Jaloviina, different varieties have acquired nicknames based on Finnish military ranks. No-star cut brandy is called vääpeli (non-commissioned officer), one-star cut brandy is called vänrikki, two-star cut brandy is called luutnantti (lieutenant) and three-star cut brandy is called kapteeni (captain). Another popular nickname for one-star cut brandy is seriffi (sheriff). In the Second World War, cognac rations distributed to troops in celebration of Marshal Mannerheim's birthday on 4 June 1942 were actually cut cognac. The bottles were labeled simply with plain military supply labels. In 2017, Lignell & Piispanen started selling a reproduction, labeled Puolustuslaitos Leikattua (konjakkia ja viinaa). Germany In Germany, particularly in former East Germany, cut brandy () is widespread. German cut brandy is never graded; a large majority of the cut brandy on the German market would fall into the zero stars category. A typical characteristic of German cut brandy is its unusual low alcohol content, generally between 28% and 32% alcohol by volume. Therefore it has a very soft taste which is possibly the reason for its popularity in Germany. German cut brandy also has a very distinct taste, quite different from genuine brandy and other cut brandies like Finnish Jaloviina. Most brands of cut brandy in Germany are of East German origin and the eastern states of Germany are also the most important market for cut brandy. This has historical reasons. In the East German planned economy there was very often a shortage