Ratafia: Catalunya's Sweet Herbal Liqueur

With origins that date back two hundred years, ratafia's mysterious blend of fruit, nuts and herbs is now cemented into Catalan culture. We hear from those who are working hard to keep the tradition alive and brewing.

Lluisa Juanola darts off the farmyard track, picks a flower hidden in the long grass and adds it triumphantly to her basket. Farther downhill, Marta Compte does battle with the branches of a small tree as she tries to retrieve some pine cones hanging tantalizingly just above her head.

The women are taking part in an annual ritual: gathering plants to make ratafia, a traditional Catalan liqueur. A heady concoction of around 50 aromatic herbs, flowers, fruits and spices, this sweet, caramel-colored drink is said to have medicinal properties.

While many Spanish liqueurs such as patxaran, the sloe-flavored liqueur from Navarra, and orujo, the transparent spirit popular in Galicia, Castilla-León and Cantabria, have become supermarket staples, ratafia remains very much a local product. And although small distilleries, such as Cal Russet in Olot and Distribucions Portet outside of Lleida, produce ratafia commercially, the practice of making it at home is still widespread.

Traditionally, the herbs are gathered on the eve of the midsummer festival of Sant Joan when they are said to be imbued with magical qualities. Each family has its own recipe—a closely-guarded secret that is passed down through the generations—and its own special way of preparing the liqueur. For this reason it is said there are as many different types of ratafia as there are people who make it.

Lluisa, who was taught what she knows by her mother, is now passing on her knowledge of herbs to her daughter Anna Güell and four-year-old granddaughter Julia. For the past four or five years, they have been joined on their annual herb-gathering trips by several of Anna’s colleagues, all of whom contribute their own ideas on what to add to the brew.

Another ratafia enthusiast, Xavi Amat, from Santa Coloma de Farners, learned how to make the liqueur by listening to the advice of “la gent major” as well as from taking part in an annual summertime workshop held in his hometown. “Like all families and people who make ratafia, we have a secret recipe,” he said. “I’m sorry, but I can only give you some details.” His town holds an annual ratafia festival, where the competition for the title of best home-brewed liqueur is fierce. He has entered many times with his mother and friends, and although they have not yet won he remains upbeat. “Competition is stiff. My prize is the satisfaction of seeing the happiness of my friends when they try the ratafia after a winter dinner.”

While Xavi gathers herbs that he finds near his house throughout the year and buys others from herb shops, Lluisa’s friends enjoy the social aspect of their plant-gathering excursions in the run-up to Sant Joan. Setting off from her rustic farmhouse in the shadow of the Pyrenean foothills, everyone is armed with an array of plastic bags and baskets and a list of some 65 herbs, fruits and flowers. Included are the aromatic herbs rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano, as well as flowers with exotic-sounding names such as horse’s tail and lion’s tooth, various types of ferns, stinging nettles and pine cones.

The most important ingredient for ratafia, however, is unripe walnuts. The tender green nuts, picked before their shells have hardened, form the base of the liqueur. They are steeped in alcohol along with the rest of the herbs and spices for a minimum of 40 days, before being filtered straight into bottles or decanted into wooden containers to age for an additional three months.

While Lluisa’s list gives the quantities of each plant needed to make eight liters, it is not an exact science. At the end of the afternoon the group has found about half of the plants listed and added another dozen. Extra ingredients such as coffee beans, lemon and orange peel, cinnamon sticks, freshly ground nutmeg and anise will also be needed as well as the liquorice-flavored liqueur anisette, in which all the plants are left to soak. The rest is down to the personal touch of the person making the ratafia.

Xavi believes that the weather has an influence on the taste. “Every year it is different, even with the same ingredients. The climate has a lot to do with it—if the herbs aren’t well dried, if they have had a lot of sun or too little. In short, climate change also affects the ratafia.”

More than a Tonic

Full of the tannins found in green walnuts, ratafia was traditionally drunk after a meal to aid digestion. Nowadays, it is also drunk with, or in, coffee, “on the rocks” or with crushed ice.

Ratafia has also found its way into the Catalan kitchen and is used in everything from starters and main courses to desserts. “It goes very well with roast meats where it contributes a multitude of flavors thanks to the 25 distinct plants it is made from,” said Àngel Portet, director of Distribucions Portet, which makes Ratafia dels Raiers. “In baking it is used to make cakes, crème caramels and chocolates flavored with ratafia. It also goes very well in fruit salads or for soaking fruits like oranges.”

The Garrotxa town of Besalú holds its annual ratafia festival in late November or early December where, along with traditional music and dancing, local restaurateurs serve dishes made with the liqueur. “We use ratafia as a liqueur in a Besalú dessert called carquinyolis, and also with doughnuts at Lent,” said Carme Ventura, spokeswoman for the town’s Cal Parent restaurant. “We also make a sauce which we serve with foie, but the most common way is to use it in desserts such as mousse, ice-cream or with some type of sponge soaked in ratafia.”

From its origins in 1842, ratafia has had quite the culinary journey. Who knows what the future will hold for this sweet, delectable beverage?

Ratafia Festivals

June

Fira Ratafia de Centelles, Barcelona Province centelles.cat

July

Festa de la Ratafía, Sta. Eulàlia de Ronçana, Barcelona Province parcdelesolors.com

September 

Concurs de Ratafia Artesana, Sant Agustí de Lluçanès, Barcelona Province llucanes.cat

October

Festa de la Ratafia de l'Anoia, Igualada, Barcelona Province anoiaratafia.blogspot.com

Festa i Tast del Concurs de Ratafia Artesana, Terrassa, Barcelona Province terrassa.cat

November

Fira de la Xocolata i de la Ratafia, Berga, Barcelona Province festaratafiaberga.cat

La Festa de la Ratafia, Santa Coloma de Farners, Girona Province ratafia.cat

Concurs Ratafia del Pallars, Sort, Lleida Province sort.cat

Originally published November 2007, updated January 14, 2023.