Amarula – a guide to cream liqueur, its recipe and how to drink

Amarula is a South African cream liqueur made from the fruits of the African Marula tree (Ethiopian Sclerocaria), cream and sugar. It contains 17% alcohol and 20% sugar. Amarula has been produced since September 1989 by the South African distillery Southern Liqueur (a subsidiary of Distell Group Limited). Prior to that, since 1983, the company had been making only marula distillate (in 2013, Southern Liqueur also presented Amarula Gold liqueur without cream, 30% alcohol). It is considered the second most popular cream liqueur in the world, of course, after Baileys.

It is notable, first of all, for the origin of raw materials and the method of production. Marula trees are not amenable to cultivation, meaning they grow only where they have been able to establish themselves, mainly on the subequatorial plains of South Africa. Trees bear fruit in the height of the African summer, from about mid-January to mid-March. When the marula fruits ripen and fall to the ground, they are picked by the women of the local rural communities and then taken to a factory in Falaborwe (Limpopo province).

At the factory, each fruit is checked for defects and sent for further processing. First, bones, seeds and hard skins are separated in special tanks, then the resulting pulp is kept at low temperatures to prevent uncontrolled fermentation, and later the pulp and the secreted juice are transported to the cellars in Stellenbosch, where the raw material is fermented, turning it into young wine.

Marula wine is distilled twice: first on columns and then on copper stills. The young distillate is aged in French oak barrels for at least 2 years. After that, marula fruit juice and cream are added to the distillate, which gives Amarula that rich, velvety texture. The liqueur has a beige color and an incomparable taste. Rather, in many respects, Amarula is very similar to Baileys, but the taste is clearly dominated by a fruity note with a citrus character, inherent in marula fruits (they, by the way, have ten times more vitamin C than oranges). At the same time, strawberries are clearly captured in the aroma.

It just so happened that African giants love to feast on ripe, even slightly overripe and slightly fermented marula fruits, which are ready to follow the smell of ripe fruits for many, many kilometers. Because of this, the locals call the marula the “elephant tree” and Southern Liqueur has chosen the majestic animals as its symbol by placing an image of an elephant on the label.

But the distillery not only exploits the image of the giants, but also participates in their rescue by funding the “Elearant Amarula Research Program” at the University of Natal, Durban. In addition, marula is also called the “marriage tree”, which is due not only to the fact that the crown of trees is a beautiful and natural wedding canopy, but also to the fact that marula fruits are considered an aphrodisiac and are often used by locals in rituals associated with the conception of a child. .

Why not offer something? Let’s start, perhaps, with the simplest and not very, in fact, interesting, because the liquor that we eventually get will not differ much from the same homemade Baileys or any other cream liqueur. But this recipe deserves the right to life only because it has not yet been on our website.

Сначала работаем с кофе, качество которого играет важную роль. Если вы решили использовать кофе растворимый, предварительно, уж извините за каламбур, растворите его в небольшом количество подогретых сливок. Если же вы решили взять хороший свежемолотый кофе, то сварите из него примерно 100 мл очень крепкого напитка. Перед смешиванием ликёра кофе нужно остудить. Затем в банке подходящего объема нужно смешать виски (или одну из его имитаций), сгущенку, сливки, подготовленный кофе и мёд, хорошо перемешать и плотно закрыть. Ликёр готов к употреблению после 7 дней выдержки в холодильнике. Каждый день его нужно встряхивать, как и перед каждым употреблением.

Is it boring? Let’s make something more magical and similar to the original Amarula liqueur. So, for example, some of our “alchemists” noticed that the fruits of the marula tree have a lot in common with ordinary cherry plum. Next came the experiments. Mostly strange, undistilled, naturally fermented liqueurs mixed with cream, vanilla, and food coloring.

Dear Mr. faroy from the HomeDistiller forum (the same branch of secret recipes mentioned in the analysis of Campari) went further and offered to prepare a drink using the Southern Liqueur technology, but with cherry plum. The result is worthy.

* – faroy suggests using 60% double moonshine from cherry plum, aged in an oak barrel for at least 2 years; not very equivalent, but still a substitute, will be any other fruit brandy, aged on wood chips or in a barrel.

Plum free from pits and mix in a jar with 100 g of sugar. Cover with a cloth and leave for 4-7 days on the windowsill to ferment. Add cherry plum moonshine (we will definitely add its recipe according to the season) and stand for another 2 days. Filter, wait 5 days and filter again. The result is 1,2 liters of fragrant infusion. Prepare an invert syrup with a concentration of 65-66% (1 liter of water and about 1,86 g of sugar), in which vanilla and 0,5-1 g of turmeric should be immediately dissolved for color. Cool the syrup and make the final blend: add a pinch of citric acid to 1,2 liters of fragrant infusion – mix, mix a liter of syrup, mix a jar of condensed milk. Send the finished liquor to the refrigerator for a couple of days and you can drink it. You should get about 2,5 liters of liquor with a strength of 15-20% with an organoleptic very similar to Amarula.

Reasonable question. In general, it is customary to drink Amarula in its pure form with ice – this is how the drink opens up best.

It is very tasty to add liquor to coffee, both in espresso or americano, and in cappuccino or latte. Amarula is also added to cocktails. To begin with, you can replace Baileys with it in any cocktail with Irish liqueur, and later try to prepare mixed drinks created specifically for the taste and aroma of the South African digestif. For example, here are some of them:

You can find other cocktail recipes, of which there are several dozen, on the official website of the Amarula liqueur manufacturer or on many cocktail portals.

Well, if you ask. Amarula was very fond of housewives and not only because a couple of glasses of this most delicate ambrosia can brighten up any severity of everyday life. The liquor fits perfectly into many culinary masterpieces, from simple desserts to seafood and meat, where Amarula is used as a marinade or a savory addition to a dish. Many recipes for such dishes can be found on the official website of the drink, as well as on numerous culinary sites. Personally, as a big fan of meat dishes and oriental cuisine, I personally liked the recipe for stir-fried beef roast with coconut cream and Amarula.

Heat the sesame oil in a wok and fry the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli. Add beef, cut into small strips, and fry until almost done. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add coconut cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Add liqueur and simmer for another 1-2 minutes. Serve with chopped coriander leaves and egg noodles cooked separately.

Bon appetit!