Nocino, Black Walnut Liquor

Nocino or Black Walnut Liquor recipe (1)

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4.85 from 51 votes

Yield: 14 cups-a restaurant batch. Feel free to cut this in half.

Prep Time5

Macerating time180

Total Time180 5

Course: Snack

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Black Walnuts, Nocino

Servings: Servings

Calories: 31kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 15

Equipment

1 gallon mason jar
1 latex gloves

Ingredients

The maceration

3 lbs unripe, green black walnuts soft enough that they can be easily cut with a knife
1.75 litre (7.4 cups) vodka or substitute everclear, see note

Spices

10 whole cloves or a combination of allspice or spicebush berries and cloves. You could also omit these and add ¼ cup of good coffee beans instead.

Recommended Optional Additions

Small handful of Galium triflorum leaves or sweet woodruff Optional, but highly recommended
1 cup chopped angelica stem or root Optional

Finishing sweetener

2-3 cups maple syrup or to taste, (see note)
1.75 cups water (see note)

Instructions

Maceration

Wearing gloves, cut the walnuts in half.
Combine all the ingredients for the maceration (walnuts, alcohol, spices, and other optional additions) in a glass jar or other non-reactive container and allow to infuse for a month in a cool dark place.

Straining

After the one month maceration, strain the liquid, discard the solids. Strain the liquid through the finest strainer you have. There will be gunk in the bottom and lots of black-mucky looking material. You may need to wash the strainer during the process if it gets gunked up.

Thinning and sweetening

Add the maple syrup and water until it tastes good to you. I suggest starting by adding 3 cups of water, and 3 cups of maple syrup, and adjusting from there.
You may not want all of the syrup. It should be quite strong as this is served in small amounts, but the exact sweetness is up to you. Some people prefer it candy sweet, I like mine less-so. Do not be put off by the strong, tannic taste of the nocino at this point, it will take months for the tannins to soften.

Aging to soften the tannins

Store the nocino in air tight containers, such as mason jars and allow to mature for at least 6 months. Taste it occasionally and you will notice how the tannins soften over time. I often keep it in the freezer and enjoy it chilled.

Video

Notes

On Sweetening

Instead of the water and maple, you can use 5 cups each white sugar and water, or just sweeten it to your taste. This is definitely on the sweet side, as I dilute it with other things most of the time. Feel free to make it as sweet as you like. If you want to add less sweetener, just add a little more water.

Using Everclear

If you use everclear, double the amount of water.

Nutrition