Licor de Poejo

Description: Yellow liqueur, prepared by alcoholic distillation of an infusion of dried pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium). It is presented either in glass bottles or in a typical Alentejo bottle, lined with cork.

Region: Alentejo.

Variants: Poejo liqueur from Évora. Poejo Liqueur from Montemor-o-Novo.

Special feature: Liqueur with a strong pennyroyal flavor.

History: Pennyroyal Liqueur is a typical Alentejo drink, manufactured essentially in Évora and Montemor-o-Novo. Although oral tradition refers all Alentejo liqueurs to the convent of the Carthusian friars, the current fact is that this liqueur began to be manufactured in 1913, by Mr. Joaquim Rodrigues Amaro in Montemor-o-Novo and by Mr. Fausto Mourão in Évora. In the Ilustração Alentejana Magazine, year III, 1927, there is an advertisement for the Montemorense Dis-tillery with the following specialties: Montemorense Granite, Montemorense Pennyroyal Liqueur, Capilé Montemorense.

Use: As a digestive, after meals.

Know-how: This liqueur is made through a first distillation in boilers over direct heat, of alcohol at 90° and an infusion of dried pennyroyal. After the 'spirit' has been extracted, it is distilled again with a mixture of other herbs, and the 'syrup' (sugar water) is then added to the 'spirit' until it reaches the desired graduation.

Fonte: Produtos tradicionais portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001