Ingredients
5lt demijohn (or carbuoy) glass jar with a lid closure
33 organic green walnuts
1 lt of 95° alcohol, not flavoured (Everclear)
800g white sugar
3 whole cloves
½ cinnamon stick
5 coffee beans
Rubber gloves to wear when slicing the green walnuts
200-300ml water to correct Nocino
Optional:
Recipes for nocino vary widely depending on the spices used. Some add juniper berries, cloves, cinnamon, coffee beans, or lemon zest. A good nocino doesn’t taste strongly of any individual spice. The green walnut flavor should predominate: nutty, slightly bitter, a touch oaky, a bit vanilla-y and sweet.
Preparation
If you happen to live in a place where walnuts are grown, you can try buying them directly at a walnut farm (or even easier just collect them from your tree).
After collecting them, rinse and dry the walnuts thoroughly, use a sharp chef’s knife to halve the walnuts lengthwise.
Halve each half again to form quarters. Note that they might be a bit difficult to cut, even though the immature shells lining the inside of the green husks should still be quite thin.
When sliced in half, the unripe walnut is clear, with a jelly-like texture.
It can look like a tiny, translucent brain.
Place all ingredients in the glass jar and pour in the Everclear Alcohol.
Close the lid tightly and give the jar a good shake to distribute the ingredients.
The product thus obtained must be placed in the sun for 60 days and stirring periodically.
After keeping them in the sun for 60 days filter the walnuts, add the water and place the liqueur mix for preservation in a cool place and for a minimum of 6 months if you want to fully appreciate the organoleptic characteristics of this liqueur.
It is advisable to place it in dark glass bottles (or inside the demijohn as I do once cleaned and ready to be filled again) / or refine the product in wooden casks. It is possible to choose both oak, chestnut or walnut wood, provided that the cask has been properly treated before use.
