INGREDIENTS

1 liter of alcohol 95 ° tasteful

700-900 gr. sugar

1 kg of nuts (33-35 nuts about depending on the size but always in odd number).

The nuts must be strictly of local origin and without any treatment.

They also must be, as tradition indicates, collected in the period at the feast of St. John the Baptist.

The right consistency of the nut must be assessed forandola with a pin and / or verified visually split in half with a knife.

Optional

Cloves and cinnamon (a little is already a lot).

and dosed in small quantities so that the flavor is still prevalent in the liquor that of walnut and the overall bouquet that you create harmonious result.
PROCEDURE

The nuts, once collected, must be cut into 4 pieces and placed in a glass container (no rubber gaskets) with the sugar.

After being kept in the sun for 1-2 days and mixed periodically, walnuts are ready to add the alcohol and any flavorings.

The product thus obtained will be placed in a partially sunny, open and occasionally stirring, filtered, and not earlier than 60 days.

It is advised that the bottling in glass containers dark and / or refine the product in small wooden barrels.

You can choose either chestnut oak that provided the keg has been properly treated before use.

The conservation of nocino must be done in a cool place for a minimum of 12 months if you want to fully appreciate all the organoleptic characteristics of this liquor.

Just thought I would share the italian aspect of this great tradtional drink!

By the way, the alcohol used in nocino was obtained by “re-naturing” lab-grade alcohol denatured with gasoline…

Do you think the presence of sugar and herbs would affect the extraction? A recipe I’ve used for liqueur, the sugar is added after extraction; for lingonberry liqueur, the berries are decanted after extraction, sugar added to the residual berries and kept for another week for the sugar to “draw out” more of the ethanol/juice. This syrup is then added to the original, unsweetened, extract. Possible to adjust with more sugar afterwards.

Chemgeek: what about making a rather concentrated anise extract with approx. the same alcohol content and add to taste. Then, there’s lower risk of getting too much.

Elise: Reading your comment I realized I forgot to mention something – when making my nocino I wasn’t able to cut through them at all! I’ve added a picture of the nuts after extraction. However if they are soft enough I would certainly split the nuts to speed up the extraction.

Read your article on the chemistry of nocino, loved the shots showing what happens to it as it is exposed to air. Working with walnuts I discovered there is a reason “Walnut” is a furniture stain. I had always thought it was the color, but the stain really is from walnuts. They stain big time. Good thing to remember when making nocino. Wear dark clothes that you don’t care about. The liquid that comes out of the unripe walnuts when you cut them looks clear initially but turns dark brown and doesn’t come out.

My method is to steep the nuts and alcohol for a couple months with the citrus peels, then remove the nuts and peels. At this point I sweeten with a spiced syrup and let it sit for at least a couple more months. I find it is too hard to control the level of spice when the spices are added to the initial infusion. All those strong flavored spices can be quite intense in an alcohol infusion. Also, it isn’t a horrible idea to skip sweetening until you have removed the bulk of the vegetable matter. You run a much lower risk of spoilage.

Your recipe sounds great, but I’m not a huge fan of anise. In your final product, how pronounced is the anise? I think it would add a lot, but I don’t want it to overpower everything.