🥃 Orahovača
Balkan home-made liqueur of unripe green walnuts steeped in rakia with sugar and spices; orahovača in Serbian, orahovac in Croatian, oreovka in Macedonian.
Orahovača (orahovac in Croatian) is a thick, dark Balkan liqueur made from unripe green walnuts steeped in rakia with sugar. It is not a distillate: the walnuts are simply macerated in finished spirit. The drink is common in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, where it is called oreovka, and it is mostly made at home.
How it is made. The walnuts are picked in late spring or early summer, before the shell hardens. They are cut, placed in a jar with sugar or honey and covered with rakia made from grape pomace or apples. A Macedonian recipe uses about 40 walnuts and 300–500 g of sugar per litre of rakia. The jar is left in the sun for about 40 days and then strained.
Taste. Orahovača turns out dark and bittersweet, with notes of walnut and spice. Some add citrus zest, vanilla, cloves or cinnamon; others keep a pure walnut flavour. According to a Zagreb guide, the drink improves after a few months or a year in the bottle. It is served after a hearty meal or with coffee and biscuits.
Relatives. Italian nocino is the same kind of green walnut liqueur; under EU law the name nocino requires at least 30% ABV and 100 g of sugar per litre. Slovenian Orehovec was once on the EU list of protected names but has since been removed. Home-made orahovača follows no rules, so its strength and sweetness vary.
Why it matters. Orahovača is often called a stomach remedy, and in North Macedonia a remedy for the thyroid as well, but there is no evidence for this; health claims on spirit drinks are banned in the EU. It is a sweet rakia-based drink with no quality control when made at home. The WHO points out that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.
Facts
| EU category | no separate category; commercial versions are liqueur (cat. 33), nocino is cat. 38 of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 |
|---|---|
| Raw material | unripe green walnuts, rakia from pomace or apples, sugar or honey, optional spices |
How it connects to Spirits
🥃 Orahovača → kind of → 🍸 Liqueurs → kind of → 🥃 Spirits
Links
- Next step
- 🍷 Maceration
- Made from
- 🥃 Rakia
- What it contains
- 🍬 Sugar
- What it affects
- 🍷 Alcohol and health, 🍷 Drunk driving
- Related to
- 🥃 Digestif, 🌍 Balkans
- Part of
- 🍸 Liqueurs
- Similar and different
- 🥃 Nocino, 🥃 Pelinkovac, 🥃 Pelinkovac
Frequently asked questions
Does orahovača cure stomach complaints?
No, this has not been proven. It is folk belief, and health claims on drinks above 1.2% ABV are banned in the EU.
What is orahovača made from?
Unripe green walnuts steeped in rakia from grape pomace or apples with sugar or honey, sometimes with spices.
When are the walnuts for orahovača picked?
In late spring or early summer, while the nut is green and the shell is still soft.
How long is orahovača steeped?
About 40 days in the sun; after straining, according to a Zagreb guide, it improves for a further few months or a year.
How does orahovača differ from nocino?
It is the same type of green walnut liqueur; nocino is an Italian name with EU rules (from 30% ABV), while orahovača is Balkan and mostly home-made.
What to read next
- 🍷 Alcohol and health — Alcohol in any drink is harmful in large amounts, and the risks grow with the quantity.
- 🍷 Maceration — Steeping the juice with the skins to extract colour, tannins and aroma.
- 🥃 Digestif — A small serving of brandy, grappa, amaro or liqueur at the end of a meal; French digestif, Italian digestivo. A custom, not an EU category.
- 🌍 Balkans — A mountainous peninsula in southeastern Europe between the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas: sheep's cheeses and kiselo mlyako, olives and wine.
- 🥃 Pelinkovac — Pelinkovac is a bittersweet liqueur in which wormwood dominates; the Croatian protected form Hrvatski pelinkovac has 27–31% ABV and 100–170 g/l of added sugar.
Similar
🥃 Mirto · 🥃 Rosolio (Italian botanical liqueur) · 🥃 Goldwasser · 🥃 Génépi · 🥃 Pelinkovac · 🥃 Limoncello
⚠️ Spirit drinks contain alcohol and are for adults only. Alcohol harms health. Do not drink during pregnancy or before driving; check the label for ingredients and possible allergens.
Sources
- Love Zagreb: Orahovac — walnut in a glass: thick, dark, strong liqueur of unripe green walnuts, not a distillate; base — neutral pomace or apple brandy with sugar; walnuts picked in late spring and early summer; jar kept in the sun for 40 days, then strained; improves after months or a year; optional citrus zest, vanilla, clove, cinnamon; digestif and with coffee; called a stomach remedy
- Macedonian Cuisine: Oreovka — walnut rakija: 40 green walnuts, 1 litre of homemade rakija, 300–500 g sugar (or honey); 40 days in the sun; presented as a folk remedy
- Regulation (EU) 2019/787 on spirit drinks, Annex I as adopted (legislation.gov.uk): cat. 33 liqueur (min. 15 %, sugar from 100 g/l in general); cat. 38 nocino — liqueur from green walnuts, min. 30 %, sugar min. 100 g/l
- Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex III as at 31.01.2020 (legislation.gov.uk): Slovenia — Orehovec (cat. nocino), marked as deleted
- Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims, Art. 4(3): no health claims on beverages over 1.2 % vol.
- WHO/Europe: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health (04.01.2023)