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Having been collecting miniature for many
years, I have put together a number of extracts to
make liqueurs at home, visible on the dedicated page:
They are certainly not a sought-after
object, in fact there are few collectors who they include them
in their collections, but they represent a curiosity that by now
belongs to the past.
A time when people bought the extract at the grocery store (a
type of shop that perhaps no
longer exists) and made their own liquor at home.
The ones I own almost all date back to the 60s, they are
accompanied by box, leaflet with
instructions and any list of liqueurs available, as well as of
course the vial with the extract.
In addition to the line of liqueurs, many producers also
supported a line of syrups;
in this case the extract was dissolved in hot water with sugar
instead of alcohol.
The leaflet with the instructions is the most interesting part;
the list of spirits is
amazing and worth reading.
Some names are very imaginative (Dolce Incanto, Latte di Vecchia,
Liquore del Diavolo),
other types of liqueur have just disappeared, such as Costumè,
Goccia d'Oro, Marzipan.
On this page I present some of them:
Gubra S.p.A. - Desio - Milano:
Betty - Ital-Prodotti Marino -
Torino:
(for liqueurs...).
(...and for syrup).
Fratelli Meinardi - Selic s.r.l. -
Milano:
(for liqueurs...).
(...and for syrup).
Carlo Erba - Ozzano Taro - Parma:
(Some are even labeled with the relative name of the
liqueur from
paste on the bottle).
Ignazio Curci - Barletta - Milano:
G. Quinzani & C. - Milano:
(In this case the vial is replaced by a vial and the
instructions are
printed on the carton).
Some producers are known as Bertolini (that
of yeast) or la
Carlo Erba Pharmaceutical, others have instead disappeared.
There are still extracts for liqueurs today, however the more
recent ones that
I saw they were from Bertolini, on sale at a wine shop in the
former
90s ... were contained in a counter display with many types
available.
The extracts were also subject to the production tax and applied
a specific clamp:
