Poli Museo della Grappa Srlu

Liquor of Jujube

• Plant: Jujuba, Wall Germander (Ziziphus Jujuba)
• Plant part: fruit
• Plant feauters: diuretic, fever reducer, anti-inflammatory, tonic, expectorant, purifying, antiseptic, sedative, emollient, hepatoprotective, cholesterol-lowering

• Description:

  The legend, quoted by Dioscorides, tells us that the first king of Troy Teucrio taught people the virtues of many medicinal herbs, including those of the plant Teucrium chamaedry (wall germander), from which he took the name.
  Aromatic and digestive properties of wall germander are universally known for a long time because the resin that is extracted from this plant is used to prepare an "aromatic base" for many types of liquor, not least the vermouth.

  The plant is often found in grassy and dry places, especially on subalpine calcareous soils. For this reason it is easy to find and also easy to use for the preparation of a Grappa.

   

• Note:

  Even if further confirmations are still missing, the plant is contraindicated for patients with liver diseases.

The recipe

• Ingredients:

  - 50 fresh leaves of the wall germander
  - 1 liter of Grappa
  - a dozen flowering tops
  - 1 lemon peel
  - 100 g of sugar
  - 1 glass of water

• Preparation:

  Before the blossoming in the spring you will have to pick more than fifty fresh leaves of the wall germander and place them in a liter of Grappa.
  In summer, when the plant is blossoming, pick a dozen flowering tops and add them to the mixture, as well a lemon peel (only the yellow part). After one month, add a syrup which is prepared by a glass of water and 100 g of sugar.
  Another month of maceration, then filtration and an aging that lasts until next spring.
  The Grappa will have a dark green color, an aromatic flavor and a strong digestion.