Stazione

 

Okay, if you love Fernet Branca like I do and you are looking for a quick way to enjoy it with other Italian spirits, this is totally it. 

Fernet is extremely bitter and mentholated spirit that was intended as a vitamin and mineral supplement. Now it is pretty much the shot of choice for bartenders when they get off work. But it isn't for everyone. This quick (and not dirty) cocktail is a sure fix for those newly initiated to Italian spirits.

• 1 oz. Fernet Branca
• 1 oz. Cocchi di Torino vermouth
• 1 oz. Strega
• orange twist garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain in to a chilled Nick & Nora glass and garnish with the twist. 

San Remo

 

San Remo is a beautiful coastal town in northern Italy. Like the bright colors of the rooftops of San Remo, the cocktail of the same name has a brilliant hue. The Italian Alpine spirit, Strega is a white brandy-based liquor flavored with a secret recipe of herbs and spices such as saffron and mint. 

The San Remo is designed to spread out this flavor across a dry palate of herbal gin. That is the reason I chose Bulldog for its light London dry style. Is it a good drink? It is balanced, is is fresh and herbacious and bright despite having no citrus juice. So yes, unless you don't like Strega, and then I can't help you.

• 2 oz. gin (Bulldog used)
  
• 1 oz. Strega
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin extra dry used)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Cortina Cup

Cortina is a town in the southern Alps know for being a location along a famous bicycle race by the same name. This cocktail is a golden cup that emulates the race's prize, and it appropriately uses the Italian Alpine spirit, Strega.

Strega is made with saffron, mint and a number of proprietary herbs and fruits. It is gold but tastes chilly and cool. Add to this a bit of creme de menthe and a splash of Pernod and you have a sugary cocktail that is bursting with herbal flavor. You don't notice the mint as much as you'd expect with all of the juice. And the garnishes smell exactly like the drink tastes. 

• 2 oz. Strega
• 1/2 oz. peppermint schnapps
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Pernod
• orange slice and mint sprig

Combine liquid ingredients except Pernod in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled wine goblet. Add garnishes and float Pernod on top. 

Fernet Branca Cocktail

You don't have to love Fernet Branca to appreciate the balance of bittersweet notes in this mostly gin cocktail. I consider this cocktail to be quintessentially Italian and I wanted an Italian-tasting gin like MurLarkey's ImaGination gin. This has rosemary and basil as botanicals and it is so herbaceous while it remains very dry in a cocktail.

The real dry and bitter flavor comes from Fernet Branca. The sweet vermouth, however tames the menthol flavor of the spirit, for those who are not fans of that, but you do get more caramel and earthiness that otherwise is overpowered when you have Fernet by itself.

• 2 oz. gin (ImaGination gin used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi Dopo Teatro used) 
• 1/2 oz. Fernet Branca

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Fred Ferretti's Delight

Such a whimsical name for a drink, and one that's perhaps become enigmatic over time. The question remains: who is this Fred Ferretti? Is it the New York Time's food critic or just some guy at the bar who had a thing for Italian spirits. We might never know.

This is a proper name for an Italian cocktail, however, with grappa and Strega and citrus. I didn't have grappa, which is a brandy made from grape pumice. But in terms of taste, kirschwasser comes very close. It is made from black cherry juice, it is also clear, and hit has a funky fruit brandy taste and scent. Plus, Black Forest cherries aren't too far from Northern Italy anyway.

I think the overall experience with this drink is that it is balanced citrus flavors with rich liquors with a lot of character of their own. I'd like to try it again with grappa, or try it out on someone. If I ever run into a guy named Fred Ferretti, I'll ask him if he wants one.

• 1 oz. kirschwasser
• 1 oz. Strega
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 oz. orange juice
• lemon or orange twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the twist. 

Appian Way

This is such a beautiful name for a beautiful cocktail! The Appian Way is named after the Roman road built between Rome and Brindisi by Appius Claudius Caecus. This drink bursts with Italian herbal spirits like Strega and ameretto. You get mint, saffron, lemon, basil, vanilla and almond among many other spices.

Again, when making Italian cocktails, I go for MurLarkey ImaGination because it has basil and rosemary botanicals and it really mixes well with sweet liqueurs for a classic gin cocktail experience.

• 1 1/2 oz. MurLarkey ImaGination gin
• 1/2 oz. Strega
• 1/2 oz. amaretto
• orange slice

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the orange slice.

Bonsoni

This is a very balanced Italian cocktail with a very Italian name. I don't love Fernet Branca as much an many people say I should. That is to say it is not always my spirit of choice and I find it difficult to work into cocktails without overwhelming everything else. But this is a simple and elegant cocktail that uses Fernet Branca sparingly and pulls of the proper balance by simply adjusting the proportions.

I recommend a rich Italian vermouth like Cocchi with this drink. For one, it keeps with the Italian theme. But it also ensures that necessary balance with the Fernet Branca. I'm using their Dopo Teatro vermouth, which is extra bitter and has a lot of oak barrel weightiness. Perfect for balancing Fernet.

• 3 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi Dopo Teatro used)
• 1 oz. Fernet Branca
• lemon or orange peel

Combine liquors in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist citrus zest over the drink and drop it in.

Macroni

What this drink has to do with macaroni noodles, I don't know. Maybe it is a last name of someone, but I doubt it. I rather think it is related to how good this drink tastes with good Italian vermouth like Cocchi Dopo Teatro. This is no ordinary sweet vermouth. It is bitter with added smoothness from an oakey vanilla presence. It stands out just fine against the herbaceous Pernod absinthe substitute.

• 1 1/2 oz. Pernod
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi Dopo Teatro used)

Combine both ingredients in a mixing glass and stir (and watch the herbs express out out of the Pernod when it gets diluted.) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Toasted Almond

Coffee liqueur is supposed to add a toasty flavor to amaretto in this dessert drink with a kick. And it does this very well. Even though amaretto tastes more like cookies than almonds, there is more of a nutty note in this drink due to the roast of coffee in the liqueur.

The only coffee liqueur I keep on my home bar is MurLarkey coffee whiskey, which I sweeten with a teaspoon of sugar syrup to get it closer to a dessert ingredient that will work in a creamy drink.

• 2 oz. coffee liqueur (MurLarkey coffee whiskey and 1 tsp. sugar syrup used)
• 1 1/2 oz. Amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 2 oz. half and half

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into an Old Fashioned glass. 

Cara Sposa

This dessert drink is named after an Italian romantic comedy from the seventies. The name translates to "dear wife."

The intended drinker must like coffee, because Cara Sposa is a coffee and orange liqueur cocktail with an ounce of half-and-half. But to keep it a little drier, I used Belle Isle cold brew coffee moonshine. This spirit is heavy on real coffee taste and stronger than coffee liqueurs. I relied on the Cointreau to do the sweetening, as it should. The effect was a rich cocktail that tasted a little like a holiday treat with fresh oranges and real coffee with cream.

• 1 1/2 oz. coffee liqueur (Belle Isle coffee moonshine used)
• 1 oz. Cointreau
• 1 oz. half-and-half

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Italian (Heritage) Job

Looking for a twist on the classic Italian Stallion? Punt E Mes really punches up this stirred drink with more bitterness and a thick-tasting sweet vermouth flavor. I've done this drink (Italian Stallion) with Carpano Antica Vermouth, but never with a dry Irish-American whiskey. The usual recipe calls for Bourbon, which MurLarkey Heritage is not. But this particular combo is the strongest and most bitter iteration of the Italian Stallion I've made.

• 2 oz. Heritage Old Country Whiskey 
• 1 oz. Campari
• 1/2 oz. Punt E Mes sweet vermouth
• 1 dash orange bitters
• lemon twist

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon twist. 

Giuseppe's Red Shirt

This is not a Star Trek or Babylon 5 themed drink. This cocktail is similar to a Boulivardier but sweeter in that it achieve's it's red color from Cappelletti Vino Aperitivo Amaro, a bitter sweet liqueur with an unusually bright red color. It is not as bitter as Campari, however. I named this drink for Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of Italy's wars of unification. Giueseppe also happens to be distiller Cappelletti's first name.

Italy of the 19th century was a brutal place, So Brutality Battle Strength whiskey is called for. This whiskey is dry and strong. It is also fairly young and can work well in bitter cocktails where the whiskey itself cannot be counted on for the sweetness.

The final ingredient is Zucca Amaro. This Milan liqueur is a rich combination of bitter herbs and rhubarb that is proofed up to 30 percent alcohol. Finally the Italian cocktail is unified by a smacked basil leaf.

• 2 oz. American whiskey (MurLarkey Brutality used)
• 1 oz. Cappelletti Vino Aperitivo
• 1/2 oz. Zucca Amaro
• smacked basil leaf

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass with fresh ice. Smack the basil leaf in between both hands and garnish with it.

Bocce Ball

What a cute name for an Italian drink. I can see bocce players sipping these between bowls on a sunny lawn. That's where I got the inspiration for this photo. The bocce balls and oranges suggest that the game is afoot.

And this is a light and tasty drink that is well suited to outdoor drinking. It's not too strong or sweet. I really notice the quality of the biscotti-tasting Lazzaroni, and the subtle marzipan flavor that comes through the orange juice.

• 2 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• orange juice
•  orange slice

Add amaretto to a highball glass and fill it with ice. Top with orange juice and stir, then garnish with the orange slice.

Roman Cooler

Try to keep this drink as Italian as possible if you can. Make the sweet vermouth a Cocchi di Torino or Carpano Antica, or even Martini & Rossi. The sparkling water has to be San Pellegrino. The Italianness of this drink is the important selling feature.

Punt E Mes is the main feature of this bitter sparkling cocktail. It is an especially bitter herbal sweet vermouth from Torino. An ounce of it floods the drink with flavor and color. In terms of bitterness, Punt E Mes is not as intense as Campari, but it beats out most other sweet vermouths, even Carpano Antica. This is the only drink in the New York Bartender's Guide of the 90s that calls for this vermouth specifically and that is extremely unusual when you consider how vermouth-adverse the 90s were.

• 2 oz. gin (London dry recommended)
• 1 oz. Punt E Mes
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• 1/2 tsp. sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)
• sparkling water (San Pellegrino
• orange twist

Combine gin, vermouths, sugar and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling water and stir gently. Garnish with the orange twist. 

Pantomime

This cocktail will take some getting used to. Vermouth lovers, and I'm beginning to count myself as one, will like the wine-forward flavor of this drink. Rivata is much spicier than French vermouth that I know and love. There's a lot going on here, though. Orgeat for sweetness and grenadine for the color, as well as egg white and all of it blended until fluffy. This is not a cocktail that comes highly recommended. I'm more excited to have made this obscure drink that isn't sure if it is tiki, or a pre-prohibition classic.

• 3 oz. dry vermouth (Rivata used)
• 3-5 dashes grenadine
• 3-5 dashes orgeat
• egg white

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and fluffy and pour into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Italian Soda (Non-Alcoholic)

A drink like this sounds unnecessary if you have a SodaStream. Good for you if you do.

Now we will make this syrup and a drink from scratch.

The New York Bartender's Guide says you can buy any Italian syrup and combine it to make a soda drink of your choice. I had cherry juice, so I cooked down two cups of it with the juice of one lime and added sugar until it thickened and sweetened to my taste. You can do this with any fruit juice.

You can make vanilla soda the same way with extract and sugar water. The possibilities are pretty endless. Take your flavor and add it to sugar to make a syrup.

• 1 oz. Italian syrup of your choice
• seltzer 
• lemon or lime slice (optional)

Build drink in a highball glass full of ice and top with soda. Stir gently and garnish. 

Ferrari

This is a quintessential Italian cocktail, and it is very European in general. Europeans tend to enjoy vermouth in large quantities, mixing it with sugar and citrus. They don't like their drinks too strong, but richness and complexity are the general rule.

It's a multi-layered drink with citrus nose and orange spice, marzipan sweetness and a dry and herbaceous wine center. Ferrari is an appropriate name for such a designer Italian cocktail. It gets good flavor traction on the tongue and moves fast.

There's a series of car drinks including the [Golden] Cadillac, Monte Carlo, Roles Royce, and Bentley. Check them all out on my blog.    

• 2 oz. dry vermouth (Mancino used)
• 1 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• dash orange bitters (homemade bitters used)

Build cocktail in an Old Fashioned glass full of ice. Stir well and twist lemon peel over the glass before dropping it in.