Mirto (''licòre/-i de murta'' in Sardinian, ''licòr di mortula'' in Corsican) is a popular liqueur in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

islands of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, Corsica and

Capraia Capraia is an Italian island, the northwesternmost of the seven islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, and the third largest after Elba and Giglio. It is also a ''comune'' (Capraia Isola) belonging to the Province of Livorno. The island has a p ...

. It is obtained from the myrtle plant through the alcoholic maceration of the berries or a compound of berries and leaves. Myrtle grows freely in Sardinia, where the liqueur was consumed as part of a local niche market, in two varieties: the one with black berries and the other one with the white ones; legend has it that, long ago, Sardinian bandits introduced this particular usage of the plant to the nearby island of Corsica, where the liqueur has also been considered a traditional drink since then.

Varieties

There are two varieties of myrtle liqueur: *''Mirto rosso'' (simply ''murta'') is made with the berries of the black variety and is sweet. *''Mirto bianco'' (''murta arba'') is made with the berries of the white variety or, less commonly, from young leaves.

References

Italian liqueurs Cuisine of Sardinia Corsican cuisine {{Distilled-beverage-stub