Beech Leaf Noyau
Although it may sound a bit strange to infuse leaves from a tree into alcohol, Common or European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) leaves used in this way create a wonderfully herbal liqueur a little like Benedictine and difficult to fully describe. Once tasted, this drink is hard to forget. Use the young, soft and translucent leaves to make this infusion, they hold the best flavour and colour.
The name for this drink is somewhat confusing as ‘Noyau’ is the French word for a nut/kernel or core, it is also the name of a liqueur made at Poissy in central Northern France, none of the ingredients in the French liqueur are beech leaves; in fact it includes brandy, almonds and apricot kernels. Some sources say that the name comes from this drink originally being made from beech nuts, whilst others refer to the flavour being reminiscent of crème de noyaux. Either way – it’s delicious.
Ingredients
- Enough young Beech leaves to fill your jars - if you collect too many then you can eat the rest in a salad!
- 1 litre bottle of gin - a mid-range gin works well for this
- 300g caster sugar
- 400ml brandy
Method
Sterilised wide mouth jars such as mason or kilner jars with airtight lids – enough to hold 1.5 litres
For bottling you will need enough sterilised bottles to contain up to 2 litres of finished liqueur
- Check your beech leaves over and remove any insects or brown bud casings and pack lightly into your jars.
- Cover the beech leaves with gin until the jars have only 1cm of space at the top, add more leaves if necessary.
- Use a clean spoon or knife handle to push the leaves own and remove air bubbles.
- Close the lids and store the jars in a cool, dark place for at least 3 weeks – if you forget about them there is no need to worry as the flavour will just develop further!
- Make a sugar syrup by gently heating the sugar with 450ml water in a saucepan whilst stirring continuously; once the sugar has fully dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and leave the mixture to cool.
- Strain the beech leaf/gin mixture retaining only the liquid and combine this with the cooled sugar syrup and brandy, giving it all a good stir to ensure it has mixed well.
- Using a funnel (so as not to spill a drop) pour the liqueur into your bottles – at this stage it is ready to drink, but it does mature with age and I try to wait an extra couple of weeks before drinking.
Best served neat – chilled or over ice