Using Black walnuts/Nocino

[madscientist451]

So every year I have to clean up masses of black walnuts in my yard, and I've always wondered what they could be used for. Years ago I tried eating some and the walnut meat is very difficult to get out and is very bitter.
So then I came across a beverage called Nocino and am including the link here since the author of the article blended it with mead.
The recipe uses unripe black walnuts that are chopped up, I'm wondering what other uses there are?
https://timsfoodobsession.com/2015/...SG_L6GNFBgLM60u7OgZgf1ESQ0LRGafbWHMr_PrxhOThA
Edit:
Black Walnut honey recipe. I'm wondering what this would be like fermented or used for backsweetening....
https://foragerchef.com/green-walnut-honey/

 

[MightyMosin]

I've just recently heard of and had Nocino. I had a dry and sweet version. Both were excellent but I have to say that the sweeter one brought more of the walnut flavor out.
I'd love to try and make something with the walnuts. What I had was distilled, but a fermented version using something lice EC-1118 might be nice and preserve the walnut flavor.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

The green hulls are medicinal. I‘ve always enjoyed black walnut extract in cookies, but never tasted fresh, nor worked to harvest them.

 

[Craiginthecorn]

I have made Nocino twice. You must pick the green fruit just before the shell has actually formed inside to make proper Nocino. Traditionally, this is at midnight on St. Joseph’s Day in late June. Tradition also holds that the fruit should be harvested by barefoot virgins. Mine were harvested by a 65+ friend. He might’ve qualified. Not sure. ;-) The fruit needs to be cut into quarters, which becomes extremely difficult if you wait too late. The flavor is not very similar to the nut, however. Don’t expect a walnut version of Frangelico. The result is more like a sweet amaro.

The two basic methods are to macerate the fruit in sugar first, then add liquor and flavoring or vice versa, by adding the fruit to the liquor, then adding sugar. Both worked well. You can experiment with various types of liquor and flavorings.

Be aware that most wild walnuts in the USA are Black Walnut and are said to have relatively bitter fruit. I used Carpathian walnut fruit, which I believe is the variety used for most commercial walnuts.