Hazelnut Liqueur

Hazelnut Liqueur from Piekfeine Brände with cream and hazelnut nougat

Hazelnut Liqueur from Piekfeine Brände is a cream liqueur based on their own in-house hazelnut spirit made from roasted Piedmont hazelnuts. At 20% vol, it tastes of nougat, cocoa, and vanilla, with the cream adding a smoothness that the pure distillate lacks.

Hazelnut Liqueur is the creamy hazelnut liqueur from Piekfeine Brände in Bremen, stirred by Birgitta Schulze van Loon from their own nut distillate and cream. It comes at 20% vol in a 350 ml bottle and is the creamy sister to their clear hazelnut spirit.

Nougat, cocoa, and the smoothness of cream

What you notice first is roasted nut; immediately after comes the cream, turning it into liquid nougat.

Behind that lie dark cocoa and a hint of vanilla, both part of the recipe and not merely an accompaniment. It is precisely this triple combination that creates the nougat note one knows from a box of chocolates. The liqueur remains sweet, creamy, and velvety without ever becoming cloying – which is ensured by the 20% vol, providing enough of a counterweight.

The difference from any standard hazelnut liqueur on the supermarket shelf lies in the base. Here, it is founded on a genuine distillate of whole nuts, not nut flavoring in neutral alcohol – and you can taste that in the length of time the nut flavor lingers. Flavored products are gone after two seconds; this one stays.

On ice, over ice, in coffee

Served cold in a glass over a single ice cube, it needs nothing more.

Poured over chocolate or nut ice cream, the hazelnut liqueur becomes a sauce; stirred into an espresso, it makes a coffee to be savored at leisure. The liqueur pairs well with everything dark: brownies, lava cakes, a bar of dark chocolate in the evening. In the bakery, it is suitable for buttercream, praline fillings, and glazes for nut cakes.

In winter, it works well as a hot drink, topped with warm milk like an adult hot chocolate. If you are looking for the clear nut spirit without cream, choose the Hazelnut Spirit, which forms the basis of this liqueur.

From nut distillate to cream liqueur

The hazelnuts arrive roasted from Piedmont, are crushed, and steeped in alcohol until it has absorbed their aroma.

This macerate then runs through the copper still twice, using the traditional rough and fine distillation process. Only the finished distillate is combined with cream and sugar, ensuring that the nut remains the star of the show despite the sweetness.

Working from our own distillates rather than purchased alcohol is Birgitta Schulze van Loon’s philosophy regarding her liqueurs. With hazelnut, this is particularly complex because nuts contain neither sugar nor starch and therefore can never be fermented.

Cream in a glass also means: store in a cool place and consume promptly after opening. A cream liqueur is a fresh product, after all, and not something to be stockpiled for years – which rarely presents a problem with this one. It is best kept in the refrigerator anyway, as it tastes smoothest when cold.

The pure distillate that lies beneath shows how such a hazelnut liqueur tastes without the cream. You can find the entire range at Piekfeine Brände, and for those who prefer salted caramel, try the Caramel Whiskey Liqueur.