🥃 Infusion

Sloe gin, limoncello and nocino all start the same way: peel, herbs, fruit or nuts are left in spirit until their aroma, colour and bitterness pass into the liquid. That is infusion, the simplest way to give alcohol a flavour. EU law names infusion and maceration among the ways to flavour a spirit drink. ¹⁵

What the law says. Regulation (EU) 2019/787 allows a spirit drink to be made directly by maceration or similar processing of plant materials in ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, in distillates or in spirit drinks. "To flavour" is defined as adding flavourings or flavouring foodstuffs by addition, infusion, maceration, alcoholic fermentation or distillation in their presence. Every spirit drink, infused or not, has at least 15% vol. ¹

Why alcohol works. The plant gives the liquid what it holds: in the words of the Sorrento lemon liqueur specification, peel placed in alcohol passes all the qualities of the fruit into the infusion. That is why the raw material matters so much: Sorrento allows only lemons of the Limone di Sorrento PGI, and that liqueur may contain no flavourings or colourings, because its aroma and colour must come from the lemons alone. ⁵

Example one: lemon peel. For Liquore di limone di Sorrento the lemons are washed without detergents and peeled by hand or machine, taking as far as possible only the yellow outer layer. The peel, fresh or frozen, macerates in agricultural alcohol in stainless steel tanks for at least 48 hours. The infusion is filtered and mixed with water, sugar or syrup and alcohol; each litre needs the peel of at least 250 g of whole lemons. The liqueur starts cloudy and slowly clears with time. ⁵

Example two: green walnuts. For Nocino di Modena the unripe walnuts are cut by hand or by machine and left in alcohol for at least four months. The infusion, now at 46–65% vol., is drawn off and refined for at least six months, traditionally in chestnut or oak barrels. Then sugar, water, spices and alcohol are added, the liqueur rests for at least ten days and is filtered through cloth or paper. ⁴

Hours or months. The two Italian specifications show how much the time varies: thin, aromatic lemon peel needs at least 48 hours, while whole green walnuts need at least four months plus six months of refining. ⁵⁴ In both cases the liquid is filtered at the end, so that only the extract stays in the bottle and the solid material is removed. ⁵⁴

Infusion, maceration, distillation. EU law lists infusion and maceration as separate ways to flavour, but defines neither. ¹ In practice the words overlap: the Sorrento specification calls the step "infusion of the peel" and describes it as macerating the peel in alcohol. ⁵ An infusion can also be distilled: a geist is made by macerating unfermented fruit, herbs or nuts in alcohol and then distilling it below 86% vol., and fruit spirits made this way must say "obtained by maceration and distillation" on the label. ¹

Drinks made this way. EU categories describe many of them: sloe gin is made by macerating sloes in gin, pacharán by macerating sloes in alcohol with anise, ginja and guignolet by macerating cherries, nocino from green walnuts, Berenburg from fruit and plants with gentian, juniper and laurel. ¹ In Ireland, the technical file for Irish Poteen names macerations and infusions with local herbs, berries and fruit as a traditional feature. ²

Why it matters to you. Fruit, herbs or honey do not make a drink light: any spirit drink has at least 15% vol., and the label words "obtained by maceration and distillation" or a protected name tell you how it was made. ¹ For Sorrento lemon liqueur the label must even state the weight of lemons per litre. ⁵ WHO stresses that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. ³