Nut liqueur is an unusual alcoholic drink that can be prepared from peanuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, etc. Thanks to the nuts, the liqueur turns out to be dark brown in color and thick in consistency. This drink can be consumed neat, added to cocktails, coffee or ice cream.
Features of nut liqueurs
For the preparation of nut liqueur, special types of nuts are used, and sometimes various herbs that can give the drink a special taste and aroma. As an alcohol base, you can take food alcohol, vodka, brandy, rum, etc. Depending on the selected component, the strength of the resulting nut liqueur can vary from 15% to 70%.
As you know, the homeland of liqueurs is France, which still conceals recipes for making alcoholic beverages in secret. But the birthplace of nut liqueur is Italy, in which these drinks are ubiquitous.
The most popular liqueurs in Italy are walnut and bitter almond liqueurs combined with apricot pits. Uncover some of the secrets of Italian liqueur makers and make this delicious drink at home.
Walnut liqueur
To prepare this table drink, which has an original taste, you will need the following ingredients:
- walnuts - 30-40 pcs.;
- 1 liter of vodka;
- 500 g of sugar;
- carnation - 4 buds;
- cinnamon - 1 pc.;
- 500 ml of water.
Peel the walnuts, remove the partitions and chop as much as possible in a blender or mortar. Fans of the Italian liqueur Nocino believe that for the preparation of this drink it is necessary to take a certain amount of green walnuts, harvested only on strictly set days. If you want to follow the Italian tradition, then take 29 walnuts for the liqueur, harvested on the night of June 24-25. The Italians consider this night to be mysterious and truly magical, and the nuts, in their opinion, it is at this time that they are poured to milk ripeness and are the richest in nutrients.
Pour the chopped walnuts into a glass container, add cloves, cinnamon and pour all the ingredients with vodka. Now you need to tightly close the container and put it in a warm place for 1 month. After the indicated time, filter the liquid with gauze.
Make sugar syrup by mixing boiled water and granulated sugar. Combine liqueur with sugar syrup and leave for about 14 more days. As a result, you get a dark brown liqueur with a rich characteristic smell of nuts and a bittersweet taste. Store the drink in a cool place.
Nut liqueur is very strong, it is recommended to drink it chilled (or with ice) after meals, it can also be diluted with ordinary boiled water. Liqueur can be used to make cocktails, served with nutty desserts, chocolate mousses and other pastries. Italians also serve chilled cheese liqueur and add to tea.
Ratafia
This alcoholic beverage will be mild, with a nutty almond and slightly spicy flavor. You will need:
- 50 g of bitter almonds;
- 100 g sweet almonds;
- 800 g of sugar;
- 750 ml of vodka;
- 200 ml of water.
Bitter and sweet almonds must be scalded with boiling water and removed. Then send the nuts to a preheated oven and dry well at high temperature. Cool the almonds and grind in a mortar, add 300 g of sugar and grind again. Transfer the resulting mixture to a glass container and fill with vodka. The container must be well sealed and put to infuse at room temperature for 3 days.
Make sugar syrup. For a given amount of components, take 500 g of sugar and 200 ml of boiled water.
Strain the liquor by removing parts of the nuts, and then combine with the sugar syrup. Almond liquor must be mixed well, filtered and bottled. The drink needs to be aged for about 2 months.
