Parla Italiano

I'm thrilled to share this cocktail with you for several reasons:

  1. It features three distinctive and lively Italian spirits, and
  2. I finally figured out how to mix with Fernet.

Fernet Branca is an Italian amaro, or bitter spirit, dating back to the mid-1800s. Its vibrant blend of 27 various herbs, roots and plants lends it to often be enjoyed as a "digestif," or a drink enjoyed following a meal to ease digestion. Through some experimentation, I discovered that this was a tricky one to mix with for mass appeal due to its boldness of flavor. I found Fernet Branca to start on the fresher side, hinting at mint or eucalyptus, and to finish dry and bitter. Both the freshness and bitterness can easily overwhelm a drink if not used sparingly or with the right complements. 

I decided to try balancing the Fernet with fruit and tartness to mellow the bitterness while harnessing the herbal brightness. Conveniently, I had recently received two perfect spirits for the task - Malfy Italian Lemon Gin and Fabrizia Spirits Limoncello. 

Malfy Gin is an excellent first step for gin non-believers. It hits with lemon rather than juniper on both the nose and the palette and is surprisingly smooth even when enjoyed on the rocks. If (unlike me) you don't seek out gins that make you feel like you're drinking a forest, then I encourage you to give this one a shot!

I chose to further enhance the citrus tang of this drink with Fabrizia's delicious Limoncello. If you haven't yet tried a limoncello, it's a traditional Italian lemon liqueur made from soaking lemon peel in neutral spirit and then adding simple syrup. Most of the limoncello liqueurs I had tried to date were overly sugary to the point of being undrinkable, but I truly can't get enough of this one. I love that it's true to the lemon taste and aroma with a balanced sweetness and an almost creamy finish. It's clear that this limoncello is made with huge attention to detail and generous fruit content - I really can't recommend it enough.

When I think of my travels to Italy, I immediately picture the colorful cliffs and blissful beaches of Cinque Terre. I wanted this drink to channel those sights and the timeless, carefree feel of the quaint coastal towns. I added color and lightened the cocktail with cold brewed hibiscus tea. Hibiscus adds a deep, fuchsia hue and is pleasantly tart for a floral ingredient. Using hibiscus allowed me to bypass using any additional citrus, making this a a fairly easy and convenient drink to make in bulk for spring entertaining. 

I garnished the cocktail with fresh mint to highlight the freshness of the Fernet and a lemon twist for an extra pop of color and uplifting citrus scent. The resulting cocktail is zesty, fresh and incredibly drinkable for all palettes! 

Parla Italiano

  • 1.5 oz Malfy Gin
  • 0.75 oz Fabrizia Limoncello
  • 0.5 oz Fernet Branca
  • 2 oz cold-brewed hibiscus tea*

Shake all ingredients with ice to chill, then strain into a sturdy, wide-mouthed wine glass over ice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and a lemon twist. Enjoy outdoors with a wood-fired pizza and a view of the Mediterranean Sea. 

*To make cold-brewed hibiscus tea, steep 2 tbsp of dried hibiscus flowers per 8 oz of water for about 45 minutes, shaking occasionally. Strain and store excess in the fridge. 

Thanks to Belen Aquino for the stunning cocktail photography and to Gather Vintage Tablescapes for the glasses. The blue lacquered tray is from CB2. 

 

Kyoto Chiller

As I'm sure you've realized by now, one of the guiding principles of my approach to mixology is to provide recipes that are fresh, natural, and lower in sugar content. While cocktails can't be considered definitively healthy, I make sure my recipes aren't definitively unhealthy (in other words, you can enjoy a few and still feel good the next day).

I'm constantly on the look for new ingredients that live up to my standards in terms of content and nutrition. My latest find, launched in Chicago's own Green City Market and serving as the inspiration for my next series of posts, is Seasons Soda. All three of their creative flavors are free of refined sweeteners, colors, preservatives, and artificial flavors. Plus, the sugar content is wonderfully reasonable - just 14 grams per bottle. 

The Honeymint Demi-Sec flavor begged to be paired with cold-brewed green tea for a magically refreshing libation. Because let's be honest, you can never go wrong with the combination of tea, honey and mint. All types of green tea are high on my list but the Japanese Sencha is specially delicious due to its deep and grassy flavor. The strength of flavor ensured that it didn't get lost among the other ingredients of this cocktail.

I chose to stay with the Japanese theme and keep the alcohol content light by using sake (a huge thanks to our Binny's helper who recommended this particular variety). Finally, I added a touch of lemon to balance out the soda's light sweetness. The result was lightly effervescent, energizing and perfect for a hot summer day. 

The Kyoto Chiller

  • 2 oz sake
  • 2 oz cold-brewed green tea*
  • 2 oz Honeymint Demi-Sec soda
  • 1/4 lemon
  • fresh mint sprig

Shake all ingredients other than the fresh mint in a shaker with ice until chilled. Strain into a tall, cylindrical glass over crushed ice and garnish the mint sprig. Enjoy while reading up on Japanese history and culture on your next lazy weekend.

* To make cold-brewed green tea, follow a ratio of roughly 1 tea bag to 8 oz room temperature water. Allow to steep for 30-40 minutes. Cold-brewed tea can also be stored in the fridge for future use.

Thanks to Belen Aquino for the stunning cocktail photography and to Gather Vintage Tablescapes for the inspiring glassware.

Rooftop Swizzle

Up until a few months ago, I hadn't ventured into the realm of tiki cocktails. This was unfortunate because I tend to really enjoy all of the contributing components: fresh fruit, herbs, aromatic bitters and rum. My interests were first peaked by a delicious cocktail at the local CH Distillery - the Sexy Tiki Goddess. The mix of tropical fruit, ginger, almond and mint flavors was refreshingly sweet and beautifully presented. I had never previously considered pairing those ingredients but was inspired to give it a try with my own spin. As a sidenote, I'm so thankful to the vibrant cocktail scene of Chicago for endless new ideas regarding both flavor and presentation. 

The final push I needed was from Mixology Monday - a monthly online cocktail party where bloggers submit recipes for a given theme. The April theme was (conveniently) swizzles.

So apart from being a really fun word to say out loud, what is a swizzle?

This category of cocktail hails from the Caribbean, is often served over crushed ice, and gets its name from the stirring device that is used to blend the cocktail ingredients with the ice (the swizzle stick). They tend to be extremely refreshing, slightly sweet and wonderfully bright. Given that this weekend brought beautiful weather and abundant sunshine to Chicago, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to craft and enjoy a swizzle on the rooftop (hence my creative name). 

I started with one of the more well known swizzle recipes - the Queens Park Swizzle - consisting of muddled mint, lime, sugar, rum and bitters. I happened to have some small batch barrel aged rum from Old Sugar Distillery in Madison, WI so I chose to work with that rather than the traditionally used white rum. To complement the heavy oaked flavors of the rum, I made a simple syrup using brown sugar (with a 1:4 sugar:water ratio). I was also lucky to find some perfectly fresh pineapple at the grocery store so I added that to the mix by blending it with the rum.

The result was basically summer in a glass.

I expect to do a lot more experimentation with variations of this recipe in the future (you should too)! It's a bit of work if you don't have a crushed ice machine on hand and need to pound the ice with a hammer in a ziplock bag (classy) but trust me, it is so so worth it. If you appreciate cocktail aesthetics, you'll also love the beautiful ombre color that results from topping the swizzle with Angostura bitters.

The Rooftop Swizzle

  • 2 oz barrel aged rum
  • 1/2 lime
  • 1 oz  brown sugar simple syrup*
  • 8-10 dashes of Angostura bitters
  • Handful of diced, ripe pineapple (set aside 1 piece for garnish)
  • Handful of mint (set aside one sprig for garnish)
  • Crushed ice

Add juice of 1/2 lime, brown sugar simple syrup and mint to a tall, narrow glass (such as a collins glass). Muddle mint leaves into the liquid until the mixture is aromatic. Blend pineapple chunks with rum and add to the glass. Top 1/2 of the way to the top of the glass with crushed ice. Now for the swizzling! Use a barspoon or, if you happen to have it, a swizzle stick to carefully stir the mixture until blended and chilled. Basically, you want to put your stirring device in the glass and rotate it with one or two hands (as you need to keep the glass steady). Once the liquid is chilled and well mixed with the ice, cover with more crushed ice up to the top of the glass. Top with 8-10 dashes of Angostura bitters and garnish with a a chunk of fresh pineapple, a sprig of mint and a (preferably colorful) straw. Enjoy on a rooftop while basking in the summer sun. 

*To make brown sugar simple syrup, heat 1 cup water with 1/4 cup brown sugar in a small pot, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool and store any excess in the fridge for up to 3-4 weeks.

~A special thanks to Mixology Mondays and CocktailVirgin for hosting this month's online cocktail party!~