My boss, Simon, at the Shakespeare distillery really likes limoncello and amaretto. He tasked me with trying to come up with a recipe for both of those drinks. I successfully made a limoncello recipe, so now it was time to tackle an amaretto disaronno recipe. But where to begin? I decided to start my task by defining what an amaretto is.
What is Disaronno Amaretto
Amaretto (Italian for “a little bitter”) is a sweet Italian liqueur that originated in Saronno. Depending on the brand, it may be made from apricot kernels, bitter almonds, peach stones, or almonds, all of which are natural sources of the benzaldehyde that provides the almond-like flavour of the liqueur.
Wikipedia
Simon said he likes Disaronno, so I searched up the ingredients in a Disaronno. According to the company, their recipe is an infusion of apricot kernel oil with “absolute alcohol, burnt sugar, and the pure essence of seventeen selected herbs and fruits”.
Apricot Kernel Liqueur Base
I thought a good place to start would be to try and distil some apricot kernels and to macerate a portion of the kernels. Further online research revealed that apricot kernels contain the plant toxin amygdalin, which converts to cyanide after eating. Cyanide poisoning can cause nausea, fever, headaches, insomnia, thirst, lethargy, nervousness, joint, and muscle aches and pains, and falling blood pressure. In extreme cases it is fatal.
Toasting the apricot kernels will remove some of the amygdalin content, as it will leach out of the kernel during the toasting process. Another two experiments I thought of were distilling some toasted apricot kernels, and macerating some toasted apricot kernels.
I asked Simon if we should do these four experiments. He was a bit hesitant about using apricot kernels due to the potential for cyanide poisoning, so he said that to be on the safe side we should stick to using regular almonds. I made the four experiments using regular almonds.
Almond Liqueur Base
I measured out X grams of almonds, gently crushed them, and distilled them in 500mL of 40%abv neutral grain spirit. I measured out another X grams of almonds, crushed them, and macerated them in 500mL of 40% abv. Then I replicated the two experiments using roasted almonds. The almonds were roasted in the café oven for 20 min at 200°C.
We did a taste test of the four experiments and decided that the distilled roasted almonds had the best flavour. The flavour was more refined and it had a deeper roasted almond flavour. The unroasted distilled almonds tasted a bit like boiled almond skins, and they didn’t have that same intense nutty flavour as the distilled roasted almonds.
The macerated almonds were passable in taste, while the roasted macerated almonds had a good flavour, but were a bit harsh tasting at the end. If we chose to macerate the almonds then we would need to filter them to remove almond solids from the liquid. This would add another level to our production process, so we decided it made more sense to have a distilled roasted almond spirit as the base of our amaretto recipe.
Amaretto Herbs & Spices
Now that we had an almond base spirit, I wondered what the seventeen selected herbs and fruits in Disaronno could be? I came up with some fruits and spices based on what I thought would pair well with roasted almonds. My recipe included glacée cherries, orange peel, prunes, vanilla bean, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon peel, dried apricots, and allspice berries.
I did another set of experiments. One where I distilled some roasted almonds with all the other ingredients, and another where I distilled only the roasted almonds and then macerated the other ingredients afterward.
Amaretto Flavour Essences
To make these spirits more Disaronno-like, I also made a simple syrup with dark brown sugar. Equal amounts of brown sugar and hot water were weighed and combined. This sugar syrup adds sweetness and the characteristic brown colour to amaretto.
Three teaspoons of simple syrup were added to each 30mL experimental sample. I also asked Simon to buy me a variety of natural essences. I had: amaretto, orange, vanilla, red cherry, almond, and apricot essences. One drop of essence was added to each experimental sample. For example, a 30mL of the distilled amaretto spirit (experimental sample) had 3 teaspoons of brown sugar simple syrup, and one drop of a natural essence added to it.
After a tasting session, it was decided that the almond base was not the right flavour we were looking for and that it would make more sense for us to use apricot kernels as our base since that is what Disaronno uses as their base anyways. I really liked the roasted almond liqueur I made, but Simon said that because people don’t understand what a roasted almond liqueur is, they won’t buy it. People understand what an amaretto is, and what it should taste like. To create a more marketable product we should aim to make an amaretto that tastes similar to other amarettos already on the market.
After this tasting session, I ordered 100g of apricot kernels and roasted them all to try and remove as much of the amygdalin as possible. Then, disaster struck!
I only put the kernels in the oven for 13 minutes, but they got so burnt! Well, that was £5 worth of apricot kernels burnt to a cinder. I had 9g of apricot kernels left, so I decided to put them in some neutral grain spirit for a couple of days to see what kind of flavour would be extracted. We did a taste test of the apricot kernel spirit, but it was pretty gross tasting to be honest. I even tried putting a drop of the amaretto essence in, but it just made the spirit taste like play dough.
While I wasn’t successful in re-creating a Disaronno-like amaretto during my time at the Shakespeare Distillery, I did make an enjoyable roasted almond liqueur. The recipe for it is below.
Roasted Almond Liqueur Recipe
Approximate %abv = 28%abv Approximate Yield = 1L
Almond Distillate Ingredients
- 1L of 40%abv neutral grain spirit
- 90g of roasted almonds
- 1 dried apricot (optional)
- 1 glacée cherry (optional)
- 1 prune (optional)
- 10mm piece of fresh orange peel (optional)
- 10mm piece of fresh lemon peel (optional)
- 5mm vanilla bean pod (optional)
- 0.4g nutmeg powder (optional)
- 0.3g allspice berry (optional)
Brown Sugar Syrup Ingredients
- 50g of brown sugar
- 50g of hot water
Method
- Roast almonds in the oven for 15-20min at 200°C, until they smell nice and nutty and are slightly brown inside. Gently crush the almonds and set aside.
- Measure out the other ingredients for the distillate in a bowl. If using, cut the apricot, cherry, and prune into quarters to expose more surface area.
- Add all the ingredients for the distillate into the still. Add in 1L of 40%abv spirit to the still.
- Turn on the heat, and discard the first 15mL of distillate.
- Collect the rest of the distillate until it no longer tastes nice (~425mL).
- Add reverse osmosis water (or distilled water) to the distillate until the mixture is about 32% (~950mL).
- Measure out the brown sugar and hot water. Combine in a bowl. Mix until all the brown sugar has dissolved.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar syrup to the distillate. Add more to taste. Enjoy.
Watch it on YouTube Below
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