We Italians celebrate many feast days, usually by eating something special. But the Feast of Saint John the Baptist is different. On this day, we prepare something unusual to enjoy months later: a rich walnut liqueur called nocino, traditionally served as an after-dinner digestif.

On the night of June 24, tradition calls for gathering green, soft-hulled walnuts, still tender enough to cut easily with a knife. These unripe walnuts are the heart of the recipe.

They are sliced and placed in a clear, high-proof spirit—vodka or another strong alcohol, and mixed with aromatics like cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest, and vanilla. The mixture is sealed and set aside in a cupboard, where it rests but is shaken occasionally over the following weeks or months.

As time passes, the liquid darkens to an almost black color. After this initial infusion, the solids are strained out and discarded. The liquid is then sweetened with simple syrup, poured into clean bottles, sealed, and returned to the cupboard to mature; traditionally until you hear St. Nick on the roof.

If this recipe sounds vague, it is, because you learn it at the side of your Nonna, who never measures and works far too quickly to be copied. Not out of secrecy, but because every little Italian girl must make her own version for it to be truly hers.

If this recipe feels just out of reach, possibly it is because you have never seen a green walnut at the grocery store and do not have a walnut tree in your garden, then perhaps you will do as I do. You buy a bottle, raise a traditional glass, and never tell Nonna.

The taste of this brew is complex and contradictory: sweet with spice notes, softened by simple syrup, and finishing with a surprising, bitter, nutty flourish.

Nocino is usually served after dinner—alongside espresso, poured over vanilla or chocolate gelato, or used to dip biscotti.

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— A Brief History of Nocino —
Nocino’s origins are ancient, likely rooted in early European, possibly Celtic traditions of infusing green walnuts during midsummer rituals. Later, in Italy, medieval monks refined it as both a medicinal tonic and a liqueur. Today, it is a cherished and unwritten tradition tied to the Feast of Saint John the Baptist.