Nocino is a walnut flavored liquor, believed to have been a Celtic
invention. You can read about that here if you have institutional access of
some sort:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814604003541

It was being produced by monasteries in the Emilia-Romagna region of
Northern Italy as a medicinal aperitif in the Middle Ages. L'Ordine del
Nocino Modenese is an organization that was formed in the late 70's to
preserve the tradition and the history of the drink. They claim this is
the traditional recipe:
http://www.ordinedelnocinomodenese.it/ricette/Ric_nocino_gb.pdf

If you have never had it you must make it, even if you can't find
documented period source although I know there is one out there. Dammo
you might already know this but the longer you let it age, the better it is.
I have also made this recipe.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/07/liqueur-de-noix-green-walnut-liq/

YIS
Ségnat




-----Original Message-----
From: Historical Recreation in the Kingdom of Calontir
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stefan li Rous
Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2013 5:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CALONTIR] Nocino

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean exactly by "Nocino". Could you
define what you mean by this?

I think sugar would have been used in something like this. While expensive,
it was available and the distilled spirits would also have been expensive.
These would have been "medicines", not for recreational drinking. But the
same is also said about many pharmaceuticals today. :-)

Here are a few files in the BEVERAGES section of the Florilegium which might
be of use in your quest:
Clarea-d-Agua-art (12K) 1/ 7/01 "Period drinks - Spiced Wines and Sweet
Waters" by Vicente Coenca.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/Clarea-d-Agua-art.html

bev-distilled-msg(142K) 10/25/09 Medieval distilled beverages. Distilling.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/bev-distilled-msg.html

Cordials-art (24K) 6/24/12 "Cordials, Brewing, and Vinting – using herbs and
spices" by Lord William Ismeade
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/Cordials-art.html

cordials-msg (160K) 3/ 3/13 Period cordials and liqueurs. SCA creations.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/cordials-msg.html

Vodka-art (5K) 10/18/06 "Vodka-The Little Water of Life"
by Marija Kotok.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/Vodka-art.html

What "vinegar" issues are you talking about?

This could make an interesting A&S paper or project. Or an article for the
Florilegium. :-)

Stefan

On Jul 9, 2013, at 12:18 PM, David Berg <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> If I was a monk in an Italian monastery in the 14th century and I was
making a batch of nocino for medicanal purposes, what would be my extracting
liquor and what would be my sweetner? Sugar was a luxury good but refined
and distributed from Venice. Would I choose sugar over honey or would the
cost rule sugar out. Brandy was available by then in central Europe. Was
Vodka also or was that limited to eastern Europe? If both were available
which one would a monk use?
> Dammo

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas
[log in to unmask]
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****