ITALIAN DRINKS
TAG CLOUD italian drinks roman wine different ingredients wines one today cold italy big using often prosecco name sparkling prepared recipe juice glasses spoon rossini same orange origins bitter campari good sgroppino sorbet grappa negroni vermouth shaker
Since the ancient Roman times wine was mixed with water and different ingredients to prepare exquisite drinks. The reason of adding the water was that ancient roman wines where stronger than
the one we usually drink today. For the ingredients a lot of different spices where used and honey to give a sweeter taste. It was common to serve the drinks cold, but there where also wines with spices that where served warm.
Today Italy has a big variety of drinks not only using wines but also liquors as distillation arrived after the fall of the Roman empire. The page will be updated often with new posts.
Drinks with Prosecco Wine
The base for this drinks is prosecco a wine produced in the Veneto region in an area close to the city of Treviso about one hour car away from Venice. Prosecco is also the name of the varietal and is recognized by the Italian wine laws, with the doc and recently the docg for the area around Valdobbiadene. With the new laws there will be a bigger reduction in the allowed production per hectare, both for the doc and the docg. Here is an article if you want to learn more.
The sparkling of the wine is obtained by using the Charmat method, in which the secondary fermentation takes place in sealed stainless steel tanks.
I like prosecco by it, but as the summer is starting today, i also like the famous Italian drinks that are prepared with.
First the bellini, the name was given in honor of the Venetian renaissance painter not to be confused with the Sicilian opera composer.
Bellini
Ingredients for two
One peach and one third of a prosecco bottle
Recipe
Pass the peach in the juicer and divide the juice in two flutes glasses. Put the glasses in the freezer and after fifteen minutes take the glasses with the juice out of the freezer. You should add two thirds prosecco to one third juice to have a perfect balance. Stir with a long cocktail spoon.
ROSSINI
For the rossini one bowl of fresh strawberries and follow the same procedure. This time the drink is named in honor of the Italian opera composer.
Mimosa: squeeze one orange for two and follow same procedure
Something special and not so known is the Tintoretto prepared with the same proportions using pomegranate juice. The name comes from a famous venetian painter.
But if you go to Italy, although the origins of this drinks except mimosa are from Veneto, you will see people drinking
splitz as an aperitif drink.
Splitz
I like it prepare with one third of bitter campari and two third prosecco. The usual drink is one third aperol, cynar or bitter campari or any other drink, one third of white wine and one third of seltzer.
It is good to serve it with a big green olive inside on a long tooth pick.
Don’t confuse this drinks with kir or kir royal, which are prepared with French wines.
Sgroppino
This is a refreshing way to finish an Italian meal, combining the dessert with the digestive liquor. It is called sgroppino and it is typical of the north east of Italy. Sgroppino is made with lemon sorbet and a liquor or and prosecco wine. Try it and experience it also with other tastes of sorbet like watermelon or strawberry. Today a lot of recipes call for vodka but for me the best is to use a good grappa. To make it short i will simplify.
Grappa is made with the remains of the production of wine, which are fermented and distilled. To do that in Italy you need a special authorization, and this is why it is not the wine producer but the distillers making grappas. Grappa can be made with blending the remains of different varietals or just by using the remains of one varietal. For me there is a big misconception that a great grappa is made out from the remains of a great wine. It is one of these marketing tricks that will make you believe that it is worth paying more than 50 dollars for a grappa of brunello or barbaresco. Remember grappa is made with what is left after the pressing of the grapes, and there is no reason why you should pay a fortune for. So now the big question, which grappa should i buy? For me the best grappas are the one made from so called aromatic varietals, like moscato, gewuertztraminer, riesling and so on, and this are the one i use for sgroppino.Ingredients
4 spoons lemon sorbet, one spoon grappa, one spoon prosecco.
Recipe
Mix the sorbet and the grappa. When foamy add the prosecco with a little stir, so you don’t loose the sparkling.
My suggestion is to find your own balance in the mixture. I often opt for a lighter version with less grappa.
For the serving you can use shot glasses or flutes.
NEGRONI
When i drink a negroni i just drink one as this drink is very strong in alcohol although smooth in taste. The origins of the drink go back to the beginning of the 20th century and are very debated as some want its origins in Italy other claim them in France. For sure two of the ingredients are two Italian liqueurs the Bitter and the sweet vermouth. i like to shake the negroni with ice in the shaker, but you will see that very often in Italy they do without. Whatever i like it cold and so at least i liked it served on the rocks. be careful also to order a negroni sbagliato ( it means a wrong negroni). Usually a negroni sbagliato for me is with vodka but i have seen on wikipedia that some think it is with dry sparkling wine. So it is better to ask before. For the ingredients i use a good brand name gin, bitter campari, and red martini sweet vermouth
INGREDIENTS
1/3 of gin
1/3 of Martini red vermouth
1/3 of Bitter Campari
One orange burnt for each glass
RECIPE
Mix the liqueurs in the shaker and decorate every glass with an orange burnt. I like to shake the cocktail with ice cubes directly in the shaker to make it cold.
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