vonmoishe

I'm making six batches of Nocino this year, and I've just taken the walnuts out after a two month soak. Five of the batches look and smell great. One was yellowish instead of motor oil brown, and smelled pretty off, so I dumped it. Does anyone know why this happened?

Can anyone weigh in on these two questions regarding nocino? 1. Is it better to expose the nocino to the air while steeping the walnuts, or should it stay in an airtight container? 2. Is it better to expose the nocino to the sun while steeping the walnuts, or should it stay in the dark?

I ended up using 1 liter everclear (190 proof), 1.375 liters water, and 625 g walnuts in each jar. This was closest to Giorgio's recommendation of 11 pounds of walnuts to 5 gallons of 40% alcohol solution. I'll let it steep for 2 months, then I'll remove the walnuts and add the sugar and spices with some water, to reduce it to a 30% alcohol solution (also Giorgio's advice). Does this sound like it'll work? I'm not sure that my ratio of everclear:water:walnuts was close to everyone's recommendation. -vm

So many nocino questions, so little time... To all of you nocino makers, I have some questions, as my walnuts are due to arrive in the next few days: 1. Does it have to be made in a glass jar? 2. Is it best when made in a glass jar? 3. Should the jar be sealed? 4. Why do so many recipes call for lemon or lemon peel? 5. To anyone who has used maple syrup as the sweetener, how did it taste? I met with Giorgio of Monteverdi Spirits when I was in Napa a few months ago. He said (and this is backed up by an article about him from a few years ago: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...type=printable) that he steeps the walnuts in a 40% alcohol solution of grape brandy (or, as he called it, "aqua vitae") and water by themselves for about 2 months, and then after the walnuts are removed, the spices and sugar are added. Has anyone tried making it this way? Any suggestions? HELP!!! -vm