Alkermes: history, interesting facts and news on the red liqueur

The origins of alkermes. It is the main ingredient for a good Italian version of the trifle recipe, the beverage that gives taste but above all colour to the pudding: alkermes is a liqueur that has always been used pure in pastry, mostly in central Italy, with a good chance of Arab origin. It was, however, the Spanish who introduced it to Italy, where it found fertile ground in the city of ...

Alchermes - Wikipedia

Ancient alchermes bottle. Alchermes (/ æ l ˈ k ɜːr m i z,-m ɪ s /, Italian: [alˈkɛrmes]; from the Arabic: القرمز, romanized: al-qirmiz, lit. 'cochineal', from Persian: کرمست, romanized: kermest, lit. 'bloody, red, cochineal, carmine') is a type of Italian liqueur (especially in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and Sicily) prepared by infusing neutral spirits with sugar, cinnamon ...

ALKERMES - The Liquor Collection

Alkermes was a modification of an 8th-century potion confectio alchermes, a tonic composed of raw silk, apple juice, ground pearls, musk, ambergris, gold leaf, rose water, cinnamon, sugar and honey. In pre-modern medicine, it was ranked among the best tonics for the heart, and was frequently used for the palpitation of the heart, or syncope ...

What to Make using Alchermes, Tuscany's Ancient Liquor

Alchermes: Tuscany's Liqueur. Makes about 1 1/2 quarts. 2 1/3 cups pure grain alcohol or vodka. 1 2-inch cinnamon stick. 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander. 1 to 2 blades whole mace or 1/4 teaspoon ground mace. 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom. 4 whole cloves. 3 tablespoons candied orange peel.

"A Liqueur of Prodigious Strength" - JSTOR

century the confectio had reached France, becoming a favored remedy at Montpellier, one of Europe's top schools of medicine. Among European physicians the confectio was esteemed chiefly as a cordial—the official term for a medi-cine that strengthened the heart—although, in imitation of Arab practice, it was also used against melancholy.6

Alchermes, the taste of the holidays » At Home in Tuscany

Alchermes (or alkermes) ... After centuries during which it was considered a delicacy, in the 2oth century, the misconception that it contained insects resulted in its falling out of favour as a drink in its own right. As a matter of fact, the recipe as we know it today can be traced back to Medicean Florence.

Alkermes - Gastro Obscura

Alkermes is a syrupy, spicy liqueur whose bright red color originally came from an unusual source: the scales of the kermes insect. In modern times, the bugs have largely been replaced with ...

A History of Substances Known as Aphrodisiacs - PMC

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Alchermes, a florentine liqueur - Trattoria Zà Zà

In the 15th century the production was resumed in the pharmacy of Santa Maria Novella and the friar Cosimo Bucelli perfected the recipe in the 18th century. ... Today Alchermes is used in pastry as a liqueur to "soak" sweets such as Trifle or Sponge Cake and to make a typical Florentine dessert invented by Buontalenti precisely for Caterina