The name Frangelico was enough to make me want to give it a try, it just sounded so Foreign and interesting and I am never afraid of trying something new, well as long as it doesn’t contain whiskey….eurgh! Frangelico is an Italian hazel nut liqueur which is not only delicious, but it is a great cocktail and cake ingredient. Hmmm, cocktails and cakes my two favourite things…… think praline liqueur, Thorntons chocolates in a glass, are you sold yet???? Yes? No? Maybe? Well read on if you really want your taste buds tantalizing!

~~~The history of Frangelico~~~~

As I discovered Frangelico has a really lovely story behind it. One thing that I have discovered through writing many of these reviews on alcoholic beverages is that most do have some interesting tale to tell and they weren’t just a case of slinging a few ingredients together and hey presto. This is one of my favourites though, well this and the one behind Amaretto.

Frangelico can actually be traced back to the early monks in Northern Italy in the 17th century. Fra. Angelico was a monk who lived as a hermit. He had a great love of nature and so decided he wanted to live in the hills of Piedmont surrounded by the River Po. He His love of nature also made him experiment with plants and herbs and used to mix together his favourites into numerous concoctions. His favourite mixture was one made of hazel nuts combined with flowers and berries as well as a few other secret ingredients. It turned out that it was popular with many other people and so in his honour they decided to name the fine liqueur after him.

To date the production of this liqueur is watched over by the Barbero family who are also located in the Piedmont region. They still use the same local high quality ingredients as Fra. Angelico himself did. Combined with this is Frangelico's distinctive packaging that reflects the high quality and authenticity of its monastic heritage. When
I look at the bottle I think it has many similarities to that of Ameretto, it is far more than a regular glass bottle, one could almost go as far as to say that it is a work of art in itself.

~~~The Frangelico making Process~~~~

The rich, smoothness of Frangelico's flavour is a result of a five stage blending and maturation process which combines tradition and craftsmanship with advanced, sophisticated technology:

1.Hazelnuts: Selected hazelnuts grown in the Piedmont region of northern Italy are shelled, toasted and crushed. They are then infused in a solution of alcohol and water.

2.Distillation: Part of the resulting hazelnut infusion is distilled - to obtain a natural hazelnut distillate.

3.Flavouring: Various natural extracts - obtained by infusing toasted cocoa, toasted coffee, vanilla berries, rhubarb root, sweet orange flowers and other ingredients - are blended with the hazelnut infusion and hazelnut distillate to create the Frangelico concentrate.

4.Maturing: The concentrate is matured in large oak casks.

5. Blending: After its maturation the concentrate is blended with natural spring water to achieve the required bottling strength. It is then laid down for four months to allow the blend to marry together and mellow

What we are left with is a creamy liqueur that smells divine and tastes even better. I guess I would describe it as similar to Amaretto in texture.

~~~Ways to drink Frangelico~~~

Traditionally Frangelico is drank rather similarly to Ameretto in that it is best neat over ice. However, any good cocktail maker will tell you that there are many more things that you can do with it. Indeed Frangelico is not only useful in cocktails and drinks, it is also great in many cakes, as well as in warm drinks like coffees and hot chocolates. Frangelico isn’t the type of drink that you will want to have all evening, indeed it is very much something to savour at
the end of a meal. However, with a bit of creativity you can use it in many different ways and make it less sweet or sickly depending on the recipe. Here are some of my favourites:

***Angel Kiss Martini***

An alteration on an old classic. Simply replace the vermouth with Frangelico in a vodka martini.

***Port of Frangelico***

3 parts Frangelico
2 parts Port
Squeeze of lemon juice

***Chocolate Cake Shot***
For all those with a sweet tooth out there this shooter is a must!!

½ oz Frangelico
½ oz Vodka citrus flavor
½ lemon wedge with sugar on top either shaken up or chilled as is

Nutty Irishman

Place Equal parts Frangelico and Irish Cream liqueur Top with whipped cream if desired. Served over ice

~~~TigerTiger’s roundup~~~~

Frangelico sounds, looks and tastes divine in my opinion. However, here is my more objective evaluation.
*If you are allergic to nuts obviously this is one to avoid. If you are using this in a cocktail be sure to make sure none of your guests have an allergy.

*Franglico is quite sickly and sweet and what comes with this is the tendency for it to be sticky and create a big mess if spilt.

*If you don’t like those praline centered choccies (personally they are my fave) then this will not appeal to you.

*This drink is not readily available, I have only seen it once in a well stocked cocktail bar in London, hence if you are planning to go out and try one of these in your local tonight it may be difficult.

*It certainly makes a plain coffee or hot chocolate a little more interesting. Thus, a great ingredient to have in the cupboard as it can be used in both hot and cold drinks, over ice-cream, in cakes and puddings, or it has to be said the bottle is so lovely that It would make a nice gift.

At nearly £20 a bottle this is not cheap stuff (if anyone can find it cheaper than this
I would be interested). However, it isn’t the kind of thing you drink everyday, well not in my house anyway so it tends to last a long time. I recommend this very strongly for all you adventurous drinkers out there or chocoholics for that matter.