That's what's in it? Unusual cocktails and their surprising ingredients
SPICES, VEGETABLES and GRAPPA: these three move into the bar.
Fruits, sugar and sweetness are passé: the triumph of bitter gin already paved the way for tart and unusual taste sensations. Now cocktail recipes are also shedding their penchant for sweet, classic formulas. Spices, vegetables and grappa tickle tongues all over the world and prove one thing: They definitely stands for pleasure!
With the right bar accessories, these cocktail trends also succeed Cuisine Style.
Spicy mixture - pepper, basil and sage in drinks
Basil
Exotic and exciting, "Cuisine Style" drinks free basil from its long marriage with tomato and mozzarella: In combination with rum and lime, the Italian herb classic breathes a spicy note into the daiquiri.
Basil Daiquiri ingredients:
- 10 basil leaves
- 1/2 lime
- 2 cl sugar syrup
- 6 cl rum
Preparation:
Ten basil leaves, half a lime sliced open, 2 cl sugar syrup, ice cubes and 6 cl rum are mixed vigorously with a round pestle in a cocktail shaker or a bulbous cocktail glass. After a quarter hour of infusion, the Basil Daiquiri can be poured through a strainer into a martini glass.
Sage
Sage Smash, literally "sage butterfly", also freshens up an already existing cocktail with a peculiar aroma.
Sage Smash ingredients:
- 4 cl vodka
- 2 cl sugar cane syrup
- 2 cl lemon juice
- 8 cl soda
- 2 sage sprigs
Preparation:
A classic vodka sour - i.e. 4 cl vodka, 2 cl sugar cane syrup, 2 cl lemon juice, and 8 cl soda - is prepared together with two sage sprigs in a shaker. In a glass decorated with lemon peel and sage leaves, the refreshing note rises to the connoisseur's nose even before the first sip.
Our tip
The abrasion of lemon peel mixed with sugar not only looks great as a sugar rim on the glass, but conjures up an additional fresh note at the first sip. A sugar rim aid makes it easier to apply lime juice and sugar.
Pepper
It's already at home in the pots of celebrity chefs. Now lemon pepper Andaliman also refines one of the oldest and most popular long drinks in the world:
Andaliman Bellini ingredients:
- 10 cl champagne or sparkling wine
- 3 cl vineyard peach puree
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper Andaliman
Preparation:
Made with 10 cl of champagne or sparkling wine and 3 cl of vineyard peach puree, the classic Bellini is enriched with a flavor nuance from the Andaliman pepper. With the additional ingredient, the Andaliman Bellini is now officially considered a cocktail - bar experts only call it a cocktail when at least three ingredients are used.
Did you know?
The Bellini was invented in 1948 in Harry's Bar, which since 1931 welcomed many international stars in Venice. Authors Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote and Orson Welles drank here in the 40s and 50s. As simple but stylish as the famous long drink, that's the atmosphere in the small bar, where to this day no music is played. "The music in Harry's Bar is the chatter of the guests," explains Arrigo Cipriani, who took over the management from his father in 1957.
Vegetables are the new fruit - alcoholic drinks with beet, peas, pumpkin and carrots
Vegetables of all kinds are moving from plates to glasses, whether as purees, steeped in spirits or as vegetable juices. The Garden Drinks use regional crops, roots and tubers that are responsible for the spicy flavor of the cocktails.
Carrot
A German vegetable classic comes to bar fame at the Rabbit Hole:
Rabbit Hole ingredients:
- Glass filled with ice
- 400 ml carrot juice
- 3 cl agave syrup
- 4 cl rum
- 2 cl lime juice
- 1 vanilla pod
Preparation:
The carrot rum drink consists of 400 ml carrot juice mixed with 3 cl agave syrup, 4 cl rum and ice. The juice of one lime and the pulp of one vanilla pod refine the Rabbit Hole before it is poured through a sieve into tall cocktail glasses.
Peas
Gin and mint are joined by fresh peas at Mind your Peas & Qs, an English play on words for "behave yourself."
Mind your Peas & Qs ingredients:
- Glass filled with ice
- 1 bottle of gin
- 100 g fresh mint
- 200 g peas
Preparation:
Cocktail guru Rich Woods sets a bottle of gin with 100 g of fresh mint and 200 g of peas and lets it steep for 48 hours. 5 cl of the pea-mint gin and 5 cl of tonic water, garnished with ice and mint, make a fresh summer version of the classic gin and tonic.
Beetroot
Anyone who thinks vegetable cocktails are off-limits to those with a sweet tooth has never heard of Beetroot Feelings:
Beetroot Feelings ingredients:
- 1-2 ice cubes
- 3 cl beet juice
- 5 cl chachaca
- 1.5 cl white chocolate syrup
Preparation:
The seductive pink of the drink comes from 3 cl beet juice mixed with 5 cl Chachaca sugar cane liquor. White chocolate syrup provides the sweetness before pouring the cocktail from the bar shaker with ice into a champagne goblet.
Our tip
Garnish the earthy-sweet drink with a vanilla pod cut into the rim. Its sweet scent harmonizes perfectly with the aroma of the white chocolate.
Pumpkin
The pumpkin rum cocktail fits into the golden autumn not only because of its rich orange:
Pumpkin Rum Cocktail ingredients:
- 1-2 ice cubes
- 8 cl pumpkin puree
- 2 cl cream
- 6 cl milk
- 4 cl vanilla rum
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 1 pinch nutmeg powder
Preparation:
8 cl pumpkin puree, 2 cl cream and 6 cl milk make the drink extra creamy, 4 cl vanilla rum adds the inner warmth. Mix these ingredients with a pinch of cinnamon and serve in a martini glass or champagne bowl. A pinch of nutmeg powder completes the taste experience.
From stomach tamer to indispensable ingredient - grappa cocktails are in vogue
Lovers of the Italian way of life prefer grappa in its pure form in a long-stemmed, classic grappa glass - like this and no other. However, the strong, peculiar taste of the brandy made from grape skins is not to everyone's taste. Grappa cocktails, on the other hand, take advantage of the delicate aromas of the distillate aged in cherry, oak or chestnut barrels and cleverly soften the brandy's up to 70 percent alcohol by volume with fruit juices and other flavors.
Clover
Clover ingredients:
- Crushed ice
- 3 cl grappa
- 2 cl lemon juice
- 1 cl strawberry syrup
- 1 tablespoon egg white
Preparation:
In the Cocktail Clover, 2 cl lemon juice, 1 cl strawberry syrup and a tablespoon of egg white take the edge off the grappa. The ingredients are mixed with some ice in a shaker and served in a tumbler.
Genova
Italian drinking pleasure served with the Genova, which mixes two classic Italian spirits with the American Dry Martini.
Genova ingredients:
- Crushed ice
- 3 cl grappa
- 1 cl Sambuca
- 4 cl gin
- 1 cl vermouth
Preparation:
The Dolce Vita flows with 3 cl grappa and 1 cl sambuca in the shaker, add 4 cl gin, 1 cl vermouth and enough ice. Vigorous shaking thus combines Italy with the long cocktail tradition of America.
Did you know?
The spirit made from grape skins, which are a byproduct of wine production, can only be called grappa if it has been produced in Italy. Grappa distilleries are flourishing in northern Italy, especially in Veneto. The name "grappa" is not derived from Monte Grappa, but from the Latin name for grape. "Rapus" became "grapo" or "graspa" in northern Italian dialects.