Ratafia: the secret is to make it on Saint John's Day and for forty days in the sun and clear air

With green walnuts, spices, aromatic herbs, alcohol (of agricultural origin), and sugar, you can make ratafia, the herbal liqueur traditionally consumed as a digestive and now also popular as a festive drink, served either sipped or over ice. This liqueur has gained popularity and is currently a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). There is also a festival-competition in Sant Coloma de Farners, a brotherhood promoting its knowledge, and several books, including: The secrets of ratafia, published by Farell Editors written by agricultural engineer Pep Escudero Rivas, now in its second edition.

"Ratafia is the only herbal liqueur made with nine herbs," says the book's author. The unique feature of the fruit is that it must be harvested in June or July, and as soon as it's harvested, it can be macerated with the rest of the ingredients. Ideally, glass bottles should be used for maceration, with the ingredients inside, in full sun and sunshine for forty days. "The concept of sunny and serene It means that, during the day, the maceration will have heated up, and at night, it will have cooled down," explains Faustí Bosch, producer of Ratafia Bosch. This fact causes the maceration to accelerate," says Bosch. Otherwise, if there is no sun and serenity, it will take more than forty days. In fact, in the industrial production of ratafia the process begins in summer, the maceration, and in December it is still going on.

Among the curiosities about ratafia is the fact that the word designates different concepts in the world. For example, in the United Kingdom a ratafia is an almond cookie type macaron. In France "it is a kind of mistela, that is, a grape must extinguished with alcohol, which they prepare with distilled wine from Burgundy or Champagne, called champion ratafiaMeanwhile, in Italy, the green walnut and herbs liqueur takes the name of nocino, and is native to northern Italy.

Following the thread of the green walnut, engineer Pep Escudero points out the importance of the fruit being green and unripe, that is, that it is harvested from the tree when the shell is soft. "When it hasn't ripened, the green walnut has water, polyphenols and many aromas, which is why it has traditionally had different uses, apart from drinking, such as a hook for fishing in mountain rivers or even for dyeing leather clothing," he says.

The recipe uses three or four for each macerated liter. "As ethnobotanical experts at the University of Barcelona, ​​​​such as Joan Vallès, explain, in liqueur recipes there is a tradition, which may seem like a mania, which is to place the number of ingredients in odd numbers, which is why we can often find it said that three green walnuts are needed, but the fact is that four are also good." Three, of course, says the author of the book of ratafias, is a magic number, which is why it is indicated in the ratafia, which has a tradition, written in Catalan, from the 19th century, and which other scholars even date back to the 18th century.

When it comes to spices and aromatic herbs, there's more freedom. Everyone can use the ones they're most familiar with, as is the case with vermouth, with which it shares similarities. "In my ratafia, I put cinnamon, Marialluïsa or orange peel, cloves, nutmeg, and even broom flower and Xarel·lo grapes from the Penedès DO," says the book's author. From there, some add up to fifteen or twenty more. The most important advice is that, whatever they choose, they should also be picked around Midsummer Day, and also that there shouldn't be any one in greater quantities than another, because otherwise, the flavors could become unbalanced.

The reason for the dark color

To continue, the dark color of ratafia is achieved from the green walnuts, which, in contact with the alcohol, aromatic herbs, and the long maturation, color the drink, and also from the sugar, which is often used brown or burnt. "Sugar, or even honey, is very important in its preparation because it buffers the bitterness resulting from the maceration of the aromatic herbs," says Pep Escudero. In fact, ratafia isn't the only liqueur that contains sugar. Vermouths contain it for the same reason; Palo de Mallorca also contains it, because it is made with bitter botanicals (gentian and cinchona). And the well-known drink from Tarragona, la mamadita, is prepared with a liqueur, green Chartreuse, and yellow Chartreuse, which also contains it. In this case, the festive drink is completed with lemon granita.

In the case of ratafia, the necessary sugar is 100 grams per liter, which is added in the form of syrup (that is, mixed with water), and once forty days have passed in the sun and open air... "It is the minimum measure, which will make the drink smooth, characteristic of Escudero.

Finally, the final essential utensil: a wooden barrel, made of oak or chestnut. "You can buy small ones, very small ones, of 5 or 10 liters, from the makers of large wooden barrels," says Escudero, who adds that the barrel will contribute aging to the drink and also solera. The solera is an important concept, because, once the ratafia is made, when it is transferred from the barrel to the bottle, a small part, which can be 30%, is left in the barrel. The following year, the new ratafia is placed in the barrel to mix with the that was left over from the previous year. And so it goes every year. Or every batch that is made. "This is how we achieve a ratafia with personality, while also having a more stable taste, and not as changeable as would occur if it were made anew each time," says the engineer, a professor at the Mercè Rossell and Domènech d'Espiells Agricultural School. However, the ratafia can also be placed directly into the glass bottle, without having passed through the barrel, which only adds personality after the maceration rests.

Some of the ratafias on the market

• La Hostia Hardcore. The family label Can Virgili, formed by three brothers, is responsible for the La Hostia Hardcore (35% alcohol) ratafia, which was launched in February 2019. "We sought an advertising similarity with Jägermeister liqueur, which had always been a digestive, but the brand gave it a commercial twist to focus. The name La Hostia comes from the fact that its ratafia has nine proof more than other ratafias. "We designed it to be drunk as a small splash with ice," he says. "The alcohol base is higher and it ends up being smoother."
• Ratafía Bosch. Located in Sant Quirze de Besora, they have been producing ratafía since the 19th century, according to the family's documentation, says Faustí Bosch, the company's manager. "We have preserved the production method because we have an unalterable formula, but we have been adapting the sweetness and alcohol content," he says. It currently has 28% (previously it was higher). Three versions are available: the classic, the reserve, and a three-liter.
• Ratafía Mina. Promoted as the first bottled ratafía made from hand-picked magnolias from Bellmunt del Priorat (Priorat). It was produced by village grandmothers, who remembered the details of its preparation. It was launched in 2010 with a production of less than 1,500 bottles. Its unique feature is that it has revived the tradition of its production through oral interviews with the local population.
• Russet Ratafia. Produced and bottled in Olot by Xavier Codina SL, it's one of the best-selling ratafias, according to agricultural engineer Pep Escudero. Its tradition dates back to 1903.