Æcorn Bitter Citrus, Non-Alcoholic Spritz 50cl

Product Information

At 100ml, the bottle for The Cotswolds Distillery’s Gin Essence may be small, but the liquid inside is mighty. To craft it, the team take their flagship Dry Gin recipe and multiply its botanical measures by a power of 10, making it so intense and aromatic that you need only 5ml to craft an excellent low-ABV gin and tonic. While we made a good bit of cold-leached acorn flour, that’s the good stuff, that’s best for acorn baked goods. I’d rather save it for that, given the choice. I also made a good bit of hot-leached acorn flour, so I’m going to try using them to make both acorn butter concoctions listed above.

Created by “scientists and bartenders”, Three Spirit is a unique brand that’s leaning into demand for healthy plant-based food and beverages, “carefully extracting the active compounds from the highest grade, ethically sourced plants we can get our hands on”. Its range of non-alcoholic beverages are made from a combination of maceration, fermentation, distillation, reverse osmosis, freeze-drying and “ultrasonic extraction” to maximise the “functional potency of our drinks”. That includes exotic ingredients like Lions’ Mane mushroom, Guayusa, passionflower and ashwaganda – all extracted from plants and boasting impressive health properties derived from active plant “adaptogens and nootropics”. A variety of oak trees across North America produce acorns that usually mature in early to late fall. The size and shapes vary — and so does the flavor. There are basically two types of acorns: bitter and sweet. What makes an acorn bitter is a chemical referred to as tannins, or tannic acid. Certain oaks, like red oaks, have the highest amounts of tannins, while burr oaks and white oaks have less. Place the acorns in a food processor and add a bit of neutral oil to help the nut butter come together. I often make homemade almond butter, and it usually doesn’t take more than a tablespoon of oil to get the nut butter to form. When harvesting acorns, look for the acorns that have no split in the outer shell or any sign of insect damage. It’s okay if the caps have fallen off, but avoid the ones with splits in the shell or green ones. You’ll also have some competition from squirrels when it comes to finding acorns on the ground. Squirrels love acorns, but they also prefer the relative safety of a nearby tree. If you see an oak standing out in a field un-surrounded by other trees, your odds of beating the squirrels will improve. Typically, a squirrel won’t travel farther then 30 yards from the nearest tree. An isolated tree is less likely to have any visits from squirrels and the acorns will be plentiful.Although Dry January has finished, for many of us, the search for delicious no and low-alcohol alternatives continues.

My initial plan was to cold leach ground acorns in cold water until the tannins were removed (several days). Then dry the acorn flour, add a bit of oil and process it further into acorn butter. There’s another acorn butter recipe in the Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook, which cites a passage from A Clash of Kings, referring to a desperate travelers acorn paste made by Arya: Leach the tannins out with either hot or cold water. With hot water, boil them for 15 minutes or until the water becomes dark brown with leached tannins, then drain. Repeat this process with more water until the water runs clear — between two and ten times. The boiling method is fast but leaches some beneficial nutrients and oils. For the cold water method, soak them for 6-12 hours until the water turns brown. Drain and repeat with fresh water until the water runs clear. This usually takes a few days.That's where the no-ABV Aecorn range comes in. Created by pioneers of the category, Seedlip Drinks, they're taking low and no drinking to a different level, directly targeting the UK's burgeoning aperitivo category and opening it up to teetotallers. Provenance = power

Oven roasted: Oven-roasted acorn recipes emphasize their nutty flavor and add a satisfying crunch. Drizzle leached acorns with oil and roast at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to munch on immediately, or add to other acorn recipes like brownies, cakes, breads, pancakes, or even hearty stews. Acorn flour can also be roasted to make either coffee or nut butter, as below.

Sodas

I wasn’t able to remove the seed coats when the acorns were raw, but after cooking they slipped right off in my fingertips. Just imagine you’re sliding the seed coat off peanuts, it’s about the same thing. Founded in 2021 by Carl Stephenson, Tuscan Tree is a non-alcoholic Aperitivo inspired by the orange orchards of Northwest Italy and the Italian culture of “Aperitivo Hour”. It’s a 0% distilled spirit infused with real blood orange juice and Italian sparkling wine, as well as a blend of non-alcoholic botanical distillates. It’s made using a traditional copper pot still to produce individual distillates, which have the alcohol removed before blending and bottling. Botanicals include cardamon, pimento, cinnamon bark oil, and rhubarb root. Works great in a spritz served with soda or tonic water. The inspiration for Botivo, a white aperitif, came from a ye olde method of producing ‘oxymel’ herbal tonics (oxy = acid / mel = honey), which due to their ingredients are afforded natural complexity and shelf-stability. Mirroring this method, Botivo is made by macerating botanicals (rosemary, thyme, gentian, wormwood and orange zest) for two months with raw apple cider vinegar and honey, resulting in a beverage with a depth of flavour with a degree of natural preservation. Serve over ice with sparkling water and a twist of orange. You’ve got to be very conscious about preservation and about any kind of impurity or microbiological infiltration in the liquid,’ says Howard Davies, co-founder of Salcombe Distilling Co, the maker of New London Light, a no-alcohol alternative to London Dry gin.

As a bartender, I've seen it all – the sweet, the sour, and the boozy. But there's one flavor profile that I've come to appreciate the most – bitterness. Aecorn Apéritifs, Seedlip’s sister company, made its debut in 2019. Inspired by the “European apéritif tradition”, its range of non-alcoholic aperitifs are based on English herbal remedies from the 17 th century. Each expression is produced from grapes and aromatised with herbs, roots and bitter botanicals. The range includes: Aecorn dry white (nettle, gentian, clary sage and chamomile with a herbal, bittersweet finish); Aecorn Bitter (grapefruit skin, bay and orange marmalade with lingering notes of quassia and honeycomb); and Aecorn Aromatic red (smoked cherrywood, vanilla, kola nut and chinotto, finishing with subtle notes of chocolate, raisin and oak). We have a lot more acorn recipes coming this year, and next up is acorn ice cream…stay tuned! More Foraged Food Recipes Rather confusingly, non-alcoholic, low alcohol and alcohol-free all refer to different ABV (or alcohol by volume) percentages. Here in the UK, drinks that contain 0.05% ABV or less are labelled as alcohol-free or non-alcoholic, while drinks of up to 1.2% are labelled low alcohol.Wilfred’s claims to have ‘reinvented the Spritz’ with its bittersweet apéritif made from a blend of rosemary, bitter orange, rhubarb and clove. Its snazzy art-deco bottle made its debut into the low and no space in 2021, and is perfect for anyone craving a non-alcoholic Aperol Spritz in the sunshine. The best way to make acorn flour is to chop them fine and then run them through a flour mill. You could also try to use a food processor, but the acorns will need to be very dry or you’ll end up with another batch of acorn butter. If you want to make sure the acorns are extra dry, take the chopped acorns and roast them on a baking sheet in the oven at 225 degrees for a couple of hours. Toss them from time to time on the baking sheet to expose as much of the surface area to the heat. You could also put them on a paper towel in a food dehydrator to dry them out for flour making. Acorn Butter: Though similar in taste to other nut butters, acorns are naturally higher in carbs and fiber and lower in oils. To make this nut butter recipe, roast ground acorn flour at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Add the roasted acorn flour to a food processor and add a neutral oil (vegetable, almond, peanut, coconut) until your acorn recipe reaches the desired consistency. I found a reference to a German product called “NewTella” which is supposed to be a play on the name “nutella,” or the commercially available chocolate hazelnut spread. A man in Germany was processing acorns, leaching them, and then cooking the nutmeats with apple juice before pureeing it into a lightly sweet acorn nut spread.