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Tag: liqueurs

  • Jacobelli liquori

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    Jacobelli liquori is owned by the Jacobelli family, parents and children and it was founded about 100 years ago, producing ice cream and other types of sweet food. Next, they gradually turned to producing liqueurs  and distilled beverages instead.

    Upon entering this company, visitors arrive in the shop where all the products made by this company are for sale. Then, by entering further, they will arrive at the production hall where the products are made.

    A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage made from a distilled spirit that has been flavored with fruit, cream, herbs, spices, flowers or nuts and bottled with added sugar or other sweetener (such as high-fructose corn syrup).

    Production of liqueurs at this firm depends on how mature the added fruits are. In addition, fruit peels are used and an infusion, consisting of water, sugar, yeast  and caramel is made.

    Some of the liqueurs made at this company include:

    • nocino – infusion of nut shells.
    • limoncello – bits of lemon peel is stored in alcohol, then peels of other citrus fruits are added, next mixed with a syrup consisting of water and sugar.
    • Arancello – infusion of bits of orange peel
    • rosolio – based of essential oils, which are extracted from roses
    • acquasanta – infusion of herbs
    • Sambuca alle Centerbe – essential oils from crushing coffeee beans are mixed with alcohol, giving it a dark colour.
    • Amaretto – infusion of bitter almonds
    • mirto – an infusion of myrtle berries and leaves

    A distilled beverage is an alcoholic beverage produced by distillation of a mixture produced from alcoholic fermentation. This process purifies it and removes diluting components like water, for the purpose of increasing its proportion of alcohol content (commonly expressed as alcohol by volume,

    Distilled beverages or spirits are only made in autumn due to availability of pomace, that is the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems, left over from winemaking after pressing the grapes.

    Grappa is produced by another company in Trentino Alto Adige where it is matured in oak barrels.

    Jacobelli liquori is a small producer and no chemicals are added in order to let the taste always be the same. Thus, it varies with season, weather and so on.

    Interestingly, the sizes and the shapes of the bottles vary a lot, ranging from tiny ones containing a few millilitres to up to one litre.

    Many tourists spend their holidays in this area and they often buy the products of this company, but the competition is very high. This has led to that the Jacobelli family want to expand their production and sell to a wider market. Unfortunately, during our visit no production was made because the fruits which which are used to make liqueurs had already been harvested at the time of our visit in November. However, it was a great pleasure to receive some bottles as a gift.

  • Il Menhir – maker of liqueurs and bath salts

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    We met Rosa outside the house in which she produces, stores and packages her products, that is liqueurs and bath salts. Being a person full of initiative and having done courses on aromatic, medicinal plants and phytocosmetics (cosmetics in which most of ingredients are of vegetable origin), she decided to found her firm in 2000. Transforming plants into liqueurs is quite complex and the following is meant as an introduction only.

    A plant excretes particular chemical substances and an essential oil from the same plant can have two chemotypes, one beneficial, for instance for the skin, while the other one can be toxic at high and extended doses.

    Chemotypes are products of adaptation due to varied ambient conditions in which the same species can find itself growing: a specific chemical production allows the plant to better exploit the soil in which it is growing, defend itself against parasites and be more resistant against diseases.

    Rosa never uses the seeds of a plant and always tried to maintain the chemotype and typology of the mother plant.

    When she started her activity she collaborated with the Universities of Sassari and Cagliari in order to optimize the methods of transformation of medicinal plants into liqueurs with natural colourings while her partner Francesi has learnt how to do the distillation of the herbs in a repeatable way.

    All the herbs are picked near Laconi by Rosa and with help from friends and relatives. The harvest is done in the balmy season, that is when the plants has the highest concentration of essential oils and active substances. Some of the balmy seasons are as follows:

    • rosemary – from June to September
    • thyme – the whole of August
    • angustifolium – one week in June
    • myrtle – December

    After the harvest, the berries and the herbs are put in an infusion where the time it will stay depends on the type of plant (more time for berries, less for herbs). Then, the liquid is let out, while the solids are kept.

    Infusions are a kind of dye which Rosa uses for colouring her products such that they can be distinguished by sight. For example, she produces an almost black thyme, a dark green juniper, a light green fennel and a yellow mountain thyme.

    In order to make liqueurs, the berries are macerated and mixed with 95 % alcohol. After about 20 days, the infusion is removed and the remains are diluted with water and sugar. How the last operation is done depends on what the requirements are and if one wants a more or less sweet liqueur. In any case, the maximum alcoholic percentage is 55%.

    Rosa produces the following liqueurs:

    In order to make bath salts. Rosa buys sea salt and mixes it with water, essential oil and a fixative of natural origin. Finally she adds a natural colourant and puts it in a bottle.

    She produces bath salts based on the following essential oils:

    • rosemary – splendid fragrance, relaxing, cures muscular pain
    • laurel – aids in removing impurities from the skin
    • mint – fragrant and refreshing

    The products of Rosa are sold in some restaurants, in shops selling typical products from Sardinia and directly from her firm, often as Christmas presents. Both bottles and labels are made in accordance with the simplicity of the products.

    Essential oils can also be used for dogs, as described here and here. An article called Best Essential Oils and How to Use Them can be found here.

  • Lu Branu farm

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    Along the road between the cities of Palau and Arzachena on the ridge of a hill separated from the coast of Smeralda by hills of granite, the farm shop la Bruttéa, meaning the spring, is placed. It has a wide selection of typical products like liqueur of myrtle, liqueur of wild olive (one of the representative plants of the maquis), and liqueur of goat’s milk, an antique liqueur of Gallura, the region where la Bruttéa is located. In addition, they are selling olive oil, red wine. cheeses, sausages and cold cuts, fresh meat, fruits and seasonal vegetables. There, we met Antonello Colombano who manages the farm of the family, while his sister manages the farm shop.

    After our visit at the farm shop, we went to the ethnographic museum of the Colombano family. First, Antonello told us about the familial traditions which had been passed on from his great-great grandmother. In the museum, there were buildings from about 1800 containing tools for making wine and olive oil, millstones, tools for plowing, a workshop for repairing tools and making new ones, etc. There was also an annex where vagabonds could stay overnight as long as they brought news from where they came as payment, meaning that the farm was isolated, indeed.

    Having finished our visit to the museum, we went to the farm where they are raising animals. The pigs were outside, but inside a fence and being curious, almost all them approached us for a closer look. Instead, the piglets were inside a building, and we  heard them when we walked from the pigs to the wild boars. The wild boars lived inside another fence to which the adults stayed near, while two baby wild boars watched us timidly behind some bushes. After some time, they left the bush, but they always tried to have an adult between them and us.

    Both the pigs and the wild boars looked very clean even though they love taking mud baths. Maybe it’s too dry such that it isn’t possible where they live.

    The goats lived in a shed, while the kids lived separately in a small room. When Antonello liberated them, they jumped and ran around like gymnasts.

    The hens and one rooster lived inside another fence and they approached us during our visit. Instead, the ducks, which lived inside the same fence, didn’t notice us at all and continued what they were doing in a pool.

    We also met a small donkey which was very timid. In the beginning, it stood rock still, but with Antonello nearby, it approached us gradually. Instead, the horses were on a field and we could just see them from a distance. Also the cows of the race “rustic Sardinian” were on a field far from the farm.

    The farm has a workroom where food like gnocchi, ravioli and sweets, etc. are made manually. Likewise, meat, cold cuts and sausages are prepared in another workroom.

    Cereals are grown for making flour and feed for the animals, like barley for the pigs. Vines, olive trees, wild olive, myrtle, vegetables like garlic, zucchini, pepper and tomatoes are cultivated. Medical herbs are grown among trees where each herb has a small sign describing its name and medical use. Legumes are cultivated for domestic use.

    There is also a guesthouse and a large restaurant on their property where products made at the farm are served. The restaurant has been constructed using local materials like stones and wood, just like the ancestors of the Colombano family used to build their houses. The restaurant is wide and open consisting of stone arches, big windows, and a fireplace made of stone, while the height of the interior is quite high. There are also photos of their ancestors who lived in the buildings housing the present ethnographic museum. We finished our visit with a delicious dinner, beginning with pasta, sausages and pork for the main course and fruits for dessert. Naturally, we used olive oil made at the farm on the salads and we drank their wine Rosso di Surrau.

    All in all, this farm is a place where the animals are treated well, they know well how their ancestors lives, but they use modern tools and machines, they are practising organic agriculture, a farm shop with a wide selection of very healthy products and their visitors are met with real pleasure.