BEER, WINE AND SPIRITS
Books
Liquid Intelligence - The art and science of the perfect cocktail, by Dave Arnold - "Think like a scientist and you will make better drinks" - this opening sentence says it all; what other cocktail book talks in depth about centrifugation, liquid nitrogen, CO2 vs. N2O infusion, and the list goes on. Terrific book!
Beer Craft, by Bostwick & Rymill is a book about brewing small batches of beer at home.
Bitters, a Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, by Brad Thomas Parsons is an excellent treatment of aromatic cocktail bitters including DIY recipes
Projects
Nocino, an Italian after dinner liqueur, is one of the group of bitter drinks known as "Amaro" and is made from immature black walnuts. You will find the authentic Nocino recipe from Modena, Italy at the end.
MAKING NOCINO
Italian Black Walnut Liqueur (Amaro)
Nocino is one of the bitter yet sweetened Italian liqueurs known as amaro.
It is made from immature black walnuts, sugar, spices and neutral spirit.
Day 1 - Immature black walnuts are right for this recipe when you
can still put a pin through them - usually around June. The shell of the walnut inside has not formed yet. Most of the flavor comes from the fleshy covering around what will become the nut inside.
Day 1 - cut into quarters
Day 1 - mixed with sugar
Day 1 - covered and placed in the sun
Day 2 - floating in syrup that the sugar extracted from the nuts
Day 2 - ready to transfer to a jar for aging
