Nut liqueur Nocino (Nocino) at home

There is a drink in Italy that is not inferior in popularity to Campari or Limoncello, it is called Nocino. This is a traditional Northern Italian digestif, most common in the Emilia-Romagna region. Each family in this region prepares a drink according to its own recipe, but the main ingredients are always green walnuts, high-quality grain or grape alcohol, spices and sugar.

In the traditional performance, Nocino is a bittersweet, viscous and very dark (almost like ink) digestif. The most important thing for homemade liquor is to pick the nuts at the right time. Traditionally, Italians collect nuts on the night of June 24-25. It is believed that on this day the greatest amount of useful substances is concentrated in the fruits. Also, the Italians believe that this night is magical and know it as the day of St. Giovanni (the Nativity of John the Baptist, St. John dewy). Here one should take into account the fact that even Northern Italy is located to the south of most regions of the CIS, so for our Nocino nuts can be harvested a couple of days later.

In the small town of Spilamberto, which is located near Modena, the Ordine del Nocino Modenese organization was founded in 1978 to promote locally produced Nocino. All of its members are women and every year they organize a competition for the best nut liquor of the year.

Nocino traditional nut liqueur recipe

We need:

• 29 green walnuts;
• 1,5 liters of grain alcohol 95,6%;
• 750 grams of sugar;
• 1 cinnamon stick;
• 6-10 buds of cloves;
• lemon zest 1;
• 400 ml water.

Italians use an odd number of nuts for their Nocino. An even number is considered bad luck.

Preparation:

1. Of all the plucked nuts, you should choose the most beautiful, without damage to the peel. After that, they need to be washed well and cut into 4 parts with a knife (if the nuts are collected at the right time, then cutting them will be very simple). We recommend doing this with gloves – clear juice will flow from the peel, but when oxidized, it will darken and it will be very difficult to wash your hands later.

2. Pour the chopped nuts into a three-liter jar and add half the sugar (375 g), spices and zest of 1 lemon. At the same time, it is very important that the zest is without white skin, which will give bitterness to a so bitter drink. You can also add a couple of vanilla pods to the drink if they are on hand. Then the contents of the jar must be filled with alcohol so that it covers all the nuts. If this is not the case, you can boil a little syrup from the remaining sugar and add it to the infusion.

3. Close the jar tightly and send it to infuse for two months in a bright, preferably sunny place, for example, on a windowsill. Every two or three days, the infusion should be stirred so that the sugar is completely dissolved. During this time, the nut tincture should acquire a dark, almost black color.

4. After two months, boil the syrup from the remaining sugar and add it to the infusion. To do this, mix the amount of water indicated in the recipe and 375 g of sugar, put on a slow fire and heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. After adding the syrup, the tincture should be hidden in a dark, cool place.

5. A month later, namely on the day of the autumn equinox (September 22-23), the finished liquor will need to be filtered through several layers of gauze or through coffee filters. Filtered Nocino needs to be bottled and forgotten in a dark, cool place for a year – this is how long it takes for the drink to acquire its proper taste. Before that, it is not recommended to try it, so as not to spoil your mood. However, some Italians uncork a bottle of fresh Nocino already at Christmas.

The remaining nuts after filtering do not need to be thrown away. Italians use them to make a special vermouth. You can find his recipe here [latest].

Remarkably, the resulting drink has a strength of 70%, but it is not felt. If the liquor seemed too strong to you, dilute it with spring water to the desired degree, although it, the degree, cannot be measured in any way. In some Italian families, Nocino is prepared with grappa, grape pomace brandy. Such a liquor is called Weak Nocino (weaker nocino). You can try to cook it on a homemade chacha.

There are also recipes in which dry white wine is added to alcohol (in principle, wine can also be added in this recipe – about 300 ml). Another very popular recipe with the addition of coffee beans (in the amount of nuts) and ground nutmeg (along with other spices). Since Nocino is made for a very long time, and is drunk instantly, it is recommended to prepare several batches of liquor at once.

How to drink homemade nocino

Liquor is a traditional digestif and should be drunk after meals to improve digestion. The drink itself is very tasty and healthy, but it should not be drunk warm, like vodka. The best option – in small glasses chilled. The liqueur tastes great with tonic. Also with Nocino prepare a lot of different and interesting cocktails. We hasten to share the recipes of some of them.