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Tag carciofo

1 post from August 2021

Artichoke infusions

In today’s installment of no sugar grandparent’s delight, I’m trying some artichoke infusions.

Carciofo is Italian for “artichoke”, and also “artichoke liqueur”, I think. There isn’t much about how to make artichoke infusions at home on the English internet, but I found some Italian YouTube videos and lots of web pages in Italian that gave me some tips. It’s pretty easy.

I’m doing artichoke infusions because I keep Cynar on my bar and like it a lot, and Cynar is purportedly a carciofo. It’s clearly got more botanicals than just artichoke, though. In an attempt to figure out Cynar’s flavor profile, I tried three different infusions: one plain, one with citrus, and one with some more complicated flavors and bittering agents that seemed to fit.

From two globe artichokes, I collected about 200 grams of leaves. (Some Italian web pages I consulted said to avoid the outer layer of leaves, while others said to specifically select the firmest and biggest, which are the outer leaves. So I used all the leaves I pulled off.) I also cut about 30 grams’ worth of stems and threw those in, though I have no idea if that is a good idea… it may make the infusions worse. Oh well!

Carciofo 1

  • 66 g artichoke leaves
  • 11 g artichoke stems, diced
  • 300 ml 151-proof spirit

Carciofo 2

  • 66 g artichoke leaves
  • 11 g artichoke stems, diced
  • 0.2 oz dried lemon peel
  • 0.2 oz dried bitter orange peel
  • 300 ml 151-proof spirit

Carciofo 3

  • 66 g artichoke leaves
  • 11 g artichoke stems, diced
  • 0.2 oz purple raisins
  • 0.155 oz dried bitter orange peel
  • 0.06 oz rhubarb root
  • 0.052 oz gentian root
  • 0.02 oz wormwood
  • 300 ml 151-proof spirit

Yes, I know I am mixing grams and ounces. I have no excuse.

I tasted infusion 3 after three days and it seemed plenty strong. I don’t want to overdo the infusions, so I’ll plan to strain on day 4.

Update

After tasting my strained infusions, I’m declaring number 3 the winner… at least in terms of imitating Cynar. It’s clear Cynar’s flavor profile relies heavily on other botanicals, specifically bittering agents—not just the artichoke.

Infusion 1 (just artichoke) was interesting, and I think it was successful as a “pure” carciofo. It’s really not bitter at all, but quite vegetal, and when diluted 50% with 1:1 agave simple syrup, it was unsettlingly sweet. Not cloying, just odd to taste that much sweetness with the artichoke flavor.

Infusion 2 (artichoke + lemon + bitter orange) showed promise, but the lemon overpowers on both the aroma and palate. A second attempt with different ratios would taste more balanced, but I don’t think it’d be like Cynar—so not worth pursuing.

Infusion 3 is good to dilute and bottle. I’m going to blend infusions 1 and 2 together and macerate with the botanicals from infusion 3—that way those subpar attempts won’t go to waste. If all goes well, I’ll end up with an additional 600 ml of a decent Cynar copycat (I am hoping the lemon gets diluted and masked).

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