How plant liqueurs are made
Everything starts with the very careful selection of leaves,
seeds and plants from Provence and elsewhere.
In our large herbarium we store about 100 different plants
which are used in the manufacture of our liqueurs. Verbena,
lime and camomile can be found in small quantities depending
on the recipe.
The first operation consists in preparing a mixture of
about 30 leaves and flowers which we infuse in 100 litres
of water boiled for two hours.
We add about 30 finely ground seeds and peels to this
infusion. Then everything is mixed with ethyl alcohol
of agricultural
origin and distilled.
The distillation permits us to collect the plant aromas
and hence to perfume the alcohol.
We add a mixture of honey, cooked in a copper cauldron
with lime leaves, violets and vanilla pods, to this
aromatic spirit.
Finally the yellow colour is given by an infusion of
saffron extracted by a hydroalcoholic mixture and
the green colour
by an infusion of chlorophyll.
This coloured aromatic alcohol is then sweetened
with a little more than 100 grams of sugar per
litre and
matured in oak casks for at least two years and,
for some liqueurs,
much longer.
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