It is becoming an annual ritual to make Nocino which is a green walnut liqueur I make from foraged walnuts I collect in mid to late June. The dark bitter walnut taste is offset by fruit zests and spices to create a great warming winter drink or all year round digestif.

CLICK HERE FOR NOCINO ANDA GUIDE TO FORAGING WALNUTS

This year I have decided to try and divide the batch between the Italian styled Nocino and the Croatian Orahovac. The only issue is I have no recipe to base it on… and I have never tasted it… if anyone has a traditional recipe I would love to see it!

Anyway the base spirit has been swapped out for the brandy. I spent a few extra pounds to go above tramp brandy but it is by no means expensive. Because brandy is naturally a fuller and warmer taste to vodka I have dropped the lemon zests which I though would clash with it and only used orange zests. Another change was the addition of honey rather than plain white sugar as it was great sweetening some home made Chambord that also uses a brandy base. I spent a few extra pounds to get an above average wild flower honey with a lovely taste rather than a bland blended one.

ORAHOVAC 1 litre

Thick dark bitter sweet liqueur to be aged at least four months.

700ml brandy

20 green walnuts

Zest of one medium sized orange

1.5cm vanilla pod

1 all spice berry

1/4 of a cinnamon stick

175g honey

175ml water

Walnuts stain everything. Cover any surfaces you will be using and get some rubber gloves or you will look like a chain smoking tramp with yellow stained fingers if not.

Seriously you cannot just mop the juice up. It quickly oxidises and turns everything black or yellow.

Grab a clean 1.5 litre Kilner jar then chop the nuts (soft shell and all) into quarters or eighths and drop them in.

Zest the orange and add along with the all spice berry, cinnamon and vanilla pod. There should be no white pith left on the zest and there is no need to crack or chop any of the spices

Pour in the brandy and leave in a dark cupboard for eight to ten weeks giving the odd shake every now and again to help disperse the flavour.

Drain through a sieve to keep the walnuts – these can have a quick rinse then be used for a second run Nocino (described here)

Filter the liqueur through a coffee filter to remove tannin and other sediment. As this is fine it will clog up the filter – simply leave it over a few hours to do its work. This allows it to oxidise and turn from dark green to black improving flavour.

Boil the water and leave to cool ever so slightly. Add the honey and keep stirring as it cools so that it does not separate. Add to the filtered liqueur once it is Luke warm and stir in thoroughly.

Pour into freshly cleaned bottles and keep until at least November though apparently it could age for a year where the tannins will mellow into a softer but more complex drink.