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Make Italian Liquors at Home

Nocino (italian Walnut Liquor)
Ingredients:
about 30 nuts with their rinds (they should be bright green)
1½ quarts grain alcohol (190 proof or 95%)
1½ pounds (3 cups) sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
10 cloves
l pint water
rind of one lemon, cut into strips

Preparation:
Begin by quartering the nuts with a heavy bladed knife or a cleaver.
Do this on a non-absorbent surface, and wear gloves: Though walnut juice is colorless when it comes out of the nut, exposure to the air turns it into dark brown walnut stain that will not come off.

Put the nuts with the remaining ingredients in a jar, cover it tightly, and put it in a warm, dark place for 40 days, shaking it every two or three days.
Once the nuts have steeped taste the nocino. If you find it too strong dilute it with some spring water.

Then line a funnel with filter paper and strain the nocino into bottles.
Stopper them and age the nocino for about six months in a cool dark place. It's wonderful at the end of a meal, or around a fire with friends.
It also makes a perfect Christmas gift.

Mint Liquor
Ingredients:
1 quarts of 90° proof alcohol
2 pounds of sugar
50 grams of fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons of anise seeds

Preparation:
Add anise seed, mint and alcohol and let sit for seven days.
Filter well. Melt sugar with half a liter of water. Add mixture and let sit for two months.

Anisette flavored liquor
Ingredients:
2 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
2 1/2 cup vodka
3 tsp. lemon juice
3 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 drop yellow food extract (2 to 4)
1/2 tsp. anise extract

Preparation:
Boil sugar and water about 3 minutes, to melt the sugar.
Cool completely and add the rest of the ingredients.

Limoncello
Ingredients:
12 lemons (unwaxed)
1½ quarts grain alcohol
half gallon of water
700 grams sugar

Preparation:
Remove only the yellow part of the lemon rinds, add alcohol and let stand for 4 weeks.
Boil sugar and water to make syrup, add to alcohol mix and let stand approx. 4 weeks.
Strain and bottle. Store the finished limoncello in the freezer. Don't worry, it won't freeze!

Cocoa Liquor
Ingredients:
1½ quarts of 90° proof alcohol
2 pounds of sugar
300 grams chocolate extra soft
1 stick of vanilla
Preparation:
Add finely grated chocolate and the vanilla together with the alcohol. Let it sit seven days. Filter liquid.
Melt the sugar in 2 cups of water and add to mix.
Bottle and seal tightly and let rest one month before use.

Basil Liquor
Ingredients:
1½ quarts of 90° proof alcohol
2 pounds of sugar
50 grams of fresh basil

Preparation:
Clean the basil very well and mince.
Add basil to alcohol and let it sit seven days.
Filter liquid. Melt the sugar in 2 cups of water and add to mix.
Bottle and seal tightly and let rest for two months before use.

Black Sambuca
Ingredients:
4 cups of alcohol (40%)
4 cups of ripe elderberries
1/8 tsp anise essential oil (15 drops or use equivalent pure aniseed extract from supermarket)
1/8 tsp pure licorice root extract
strip of lemon peel
2 cups of granulated sugar (can be in form of invert syrup)
1 tsp glycerine (for smoothness)

Preparation:
Macerate the elderberries in alcohol until it becomes a characteristic dark color, then add sugar, anise, licorice, lemon peel and macerate for 30 days. Strain.

Limoncello with Vodka
Ingredients:
15 lemons, well scrubbed
2 (750 ml) 100-proof vodka
4 cups sugar
5 cups water

Preparation:
Wash the lemons with a vegetable brush and hot water to remove any residue of pesticides or wax; pat the lemons dry.
Carefully zest the lemons with a zester or vegetable peeler so there is no white pith on the peel.

In a large glass jar (1-gallon jar), add one bottle of vodka; add the lemon zest as it is zested.
Cover the jar and let sit at room temperature for at least (10) ten days and up to (40) days in a cool dark place.
The longer it rests, the better the taste will be.

(There is no need to stir - all you have to do is wait.) As the limoncello sits, the vodka slowly takes on the flavor and rich yellow color of the lemon zest.
In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and water; cook until thickened, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Let the syrup cool before adding it to the limoncello mixture. Add to the limoncello mixture from Step One.
Add the additional bottle of vodka. Allow to rest for another 10 to 40 days.
After the rest period, strain and bottle; discarding the lemon zest. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve.

Cin Cin!

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