What to Know About Monaco's Luxurious Tree-to-Bottle Liqueurs

当你想到的时候Monaco, a tiny nation roughly half the size of New York City's Central Park, you may imagine The Grand Prix de Monte Carlo, exclusive hotels, grandyachts, and people gambling in their Sunday best. But the country is also extremely lush — green spaces make up 20 percent of the two square kilometers. One such green space is the Heritage Tree Trail, created by The Prince Albert II Foundation in 2013 to support Monaco's commitment against砍伐森林.

Monaco is also celebrated for unique liqueur's from the country's first — and only — distillery, Distillerie de Monaco. The distillery opened in 2016 and is located in the heart of La Condamine behind the iconic Port Hercules. It's known for its tree-to-bottle liqueurs, including Carruba, a handmade, vegan, and organic liqueur made from locally sourced raw fruits from carob trees.

The liqueur, which debuted in late 2019, is made from roasted carob pods that are macerated to create rich, complex flavors, offering notes of fine chocolate, freshly made coffee, and caramel. "By toasting the fruit, in a similar fashion to coffee, we're able to bring out the best qualities," said Philip Culazzo, the owner Distillerie de Monaco. He notes that there are also more complex notes including prunes, dates, candied fruits, gingerbread, licorice, and white chocolate.

In Monaco's parks, including the Heritage Tree Trail, you're likely to come across the national tree, the carob tree. Known for medicinal properties, carob is lovingly called "the tree of life" by locals. The caffeine-, sodium-, and theobromine-free pods have a similar taste to cacao. Carob pods are fibrous, high in antioxidants, and full of vitamins and minerals such as iron, magnesium, calcium, and vitamins A and D.

这是土着对地中海盆地和中东的土着树的树木，已经赋予了植物营养的社会;它也负责我们测量黄金和宝石的方式。“来自Carob Pods的豆类用于希腊和罗马时代，以称重宝石和金属，并将他们的名字作为”克拉“为”克拉“，”Culazzo说。一只小菜种子重0.2克 - 就像钻石的克拉。

Culazzo moved to Monaco over a decade ago and realized there were very few specialties that came from Monaco. "I researched the history of Monaco to see if there could be some old recipes that could be resurrected, and instead discovered that the history of Monaco is rooted in the agricultural sector, producing olives and citrus fruits that were sold near and far for their excellent quality," he said.

He decided to make liqueurs from local plants. His distillery is known for making high-quality artisanal liqueurs from fruits grown in Monaco to offer alcohol enriched with authentic Monegasque aromas and flavors — such as carob pods.

"The carob tree was introduced to me by a Monegasque friend," Culazzo said. "I have to admit having walked over carob beans many times without knowing what they were. Although the fruit can at first be seen as undesirable, it only needs a bit of coaxing to unveil its true potential. It has a very complex, deep, and impressive profile."

The rich liqueur has an alcohol volume of 24 percent — a nod to 24 carats of gold. "The pure gold Roman coin 'Soldatus' weighed 24 carob beans, thus 24 carats," Culazzo said. "It's also the ideal balance for the level of alcohol in the liqueur — not too strong nor too weak." Carruba can be enjoyed alone as a digestif after-dinner drink, in chilled or warmed cocktails, or as an ingredient in tiramisu.

Distillerie de Monaco还创造了经典的L'Orangerie de Monaco，由手工采摘的当地Monegasque Oranges制作。L'Orangerie de Monaco是由香橙树制成的第一个优质橙色利口酒 - 在整个公公中有大约600个橙树的十个邻居。柑橘利口酒传统上用于摩纳哥日本峡，呼吁橙色利口酒，冰和橙色热烈的飞溅。当然，摩纳哥是世界上最大的香槟消费者之一。

一些摩纳哥的豪华利口酒正在前往美国。Carruba利口酒，来自世界第二个最小的国家，藏在法国和意大利里维埃拉斯之间，将很快在Drizly上提供。