Poli Museo della Grappa Srlu

Three liqueurs of cherry

• Plant: Wild Cherry, Sweet Cherry (Prunus Avium)
• Plant part: fruit
• Plant feauters: detoxifying, antioxidant, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, purifying, laxative, antibacterial, anticarcinogenic

• Description:

  In the first century BC, Lucullus imported from Cerasonte, a town in Asia Minor, a fruit which was very interesting to the Romans at that time and was called "cerasus".
  This news transmitted by Pliny the Elder (H.N. XV.-30) was revoked by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who reported that since then the cherry trees were cultivated extensively in Gaul. It seems that this hypothesis is the most reliable because archaeological investigations even discovered prehistoric cherry stones and consequently reinforced the thesis that the cherry tree came to us through the migration of the birds. It is known that birds particularly like this fruit and that the distribution of the plant often takes place in this way; This is the reason why the cherry tree is called "Prunus avium".
  When we speak of cherries, however, it should also be mentioned the well-known "Kirsch": a strong distillate with a delicate taste, distilled from "wine of cherries" which is obtained from fermented, crushed fruit.

The recipe

• Ingredients:

  First liqueur "classic":
  - 1/2 kg wild cherries
  - 1 liter of Grappa
  - 3 cloves
  - lemon peel

  Second liqueur "Ratafia":
  - 1/2 kg of cherry juice
  - 1 liter of Grappa
  - some lemon wedge
  - crushed nuts
  - 250 g of sugar syrup

  Third liqueur "Clarette":
  - 1 kg crushed cherries
  - 1 liter of Grappa
  - 15 g of cinnamon
  - 15 cloves
  - 150 g of sugar syrup

   

• Preparation:

  With the Grappa it is possible to create various liqueurs of cherry: we offer you three types of preparation, which can be easily realized.

  The first is a classic liqueur, made with half a kilo of wild cherries and a liter of Grappa. After being pickled for three months (in a warm place, but not in the sun), three cloves and a lemon peel are added. Another three months and the liqueur is ready to be filtered and can be eaten with cherries.

  The second is called "Ratafia", which is obtained by mixing the same amount of cherry juice and brandy and adding some lemon clefts and crushed nuts. After the liqueur has been rest for one month it is filtered and finally 250 g of sugar syrup are added for every obtained liter.

  The last is the "Clarette", an old liqueur obtained by placing 1 kg of crushed cherries with 15 g of cinnamon, 15 cloves and 150 g of sugar syrup in a liter of Grappa, for 15 days in the sun. The bottle should be shaken frequently and then carefully filtered.