About liquore genziana

​About liquore genziana

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The product:​ the ​genziana​ liqueur has the typical flavor and aroma of the ​genziana​ plant.

This liqueur has an intense straw color, medium alcohol content, with intense and easily identifiable aromas and fragrances. The plant, with its typical yellow-flowering, finds its range exclusively in Europe; in Italy, it grows only in certain areas of the Alps and the central Apennines, at an altitude that varies between 1000 and 2000 m. The ​genziana​ roots, taproot and fleshy, yellowish-brown in color, contain bitter principles such as genziopicroside (3.5-15%) and amarogentina (0.01-0.5%), as well as being rich in sugars ( gentianose, genziobiose, and sucrose) up to 50-60% of the dry weight.

How to prepare it:​ it is obtained by cold infusion of the roots of ​Genziana​ lutea in pure ethyl alcohol (95% vol.). They are harvested at the most suitable time, usually in the autumn, from plants of at least five or six years old, cleaned, washed in running water to free them from the last impurities of the earth and finally left to dry. in domestic production they are used directly for infusion, while in artisanal production they are shredded and left to dry in well-ventilated rooms in order to have the raw material available for a longer period of time. The cold infusion in ethyl alcohol continues for a period of at least 40 days. The liqueur does not require particular aging although it is preferable to bottle the product after at least a month, in order to have a natural decantation, before the careful filtering necessary to remove any last impurities. Dilution with sugared water leads to obtaining a final average alcohol content of around 30% vol.

Where it is produced:​ ​the oldest area of ​production of

the ​genziana​-based liqueur is traditionally located in the Abruzzo mountain area at the sites where the plant is harvested, although it is currently produced throughout the region.

How to taste it:​ this liqueur finds its ancient origin in the custom, in almost all the houses of the Abruzzese Apennines, of producing small quantities of wine flavored with ​genziana​ roots to be used as an excellent digestive. Subsequently, the wine was replaced with a hydroalcoholic solution, in order to accentuate the extraction of the natural principles contained in the root, thus also increasing the fragrance of the final product. Over time, the herbal and liqueur tradition of Abruzzo has been enriched with various recipes handed down over the centuries, which have given rise to products of excellent quality, genuine and highly digestive.