Happy Hour Tuesday: Rometti Aviation

Happy Hour Tuesday!

What do Time Square and Hugo Ensslin have in common? The answer comes in a martini glass and is dearly loved by all the cocktail enthusiast in the world: it’s Aviation, a gin based cocktail that traces back to the era of airshows and flight races. Aviation is “from the ’20s, and tastes like spring”, as The Blacklist‘s character Raymond Reddington states during a dinner with FBI agent Elizabeth Keen.

Made with dry gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur and Creme de Violette, the first recipe for Aviation appears in Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks. Later on in 1930 another version of Aviation appears in the well-known Savoy Cocktail Book, this time without the Creme de Violette. The distinguishing blue/purple color given by such ingredient was now gone, and became impossible to replicate once Creme de Violette completely disappeared from the market shelves in the ’60s, slowly leading Aviation to the oblivion. Only in 2007 Rothman and Winter reintroduced Creme de Violette in the United States, and the past seven years have brought the original Aviation back onto out cocktail lists!

Although many of you might still stick to the recipe without the Creme de Violette, Rometti Limoncello feels like it’s necessary to include it in the ingredients of our Rometti Aviation version: the floral taste and sky color make Aviation a unique, mysterious drink that seems to take us back to the sophistication of those year.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz Aviation American Gin
1 tsp Crème de violette
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz Freshly pressed lemon juice
1/4 oz Rometti Limoncello

Pour all the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well, strain into a well-chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with brandied cherry, or a slice of lemon if you prefer.

~Enjoy!

 

Image from 2eat2drink.com

Happy Hour Tuesday: French 75

Happy Hour Tuesday!

“Whatcha drinking?”, how many time have you heard this question at a party or at a bar? Cocktails are always a good way to start a conversation, but how many times have you stopped and thought why your favorite drink was named like that? This week’s drink, for example, is called French 75. If like me you are not so widely informed about guns and weapons, you probably would have never imagined that yes, it does take its name after an artillery piece, French 75mm. Why? Because the mix of its ingredients is as strong as being shelled by a French 75!

Although barman Harry MacElhone, who worked at the New York Bar in Paris back in 1915 seems to be the actual creator of such a powerful drink, there are rumors that claim it to have been created by a World War I fighter pilot who thought that champagne was not that strong enough for soldiers who like him ended up stuck in a trench with only bottles of champagne and gin (or cognac), thus he mixed the two.

Two of the most famous books with drink recipes, The Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930, and The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks from 1948 present French 75 respectively with gin and with cognac. Whether it was gin or cognac, we probably will never know, but what we do know for sure is that next time you are at a party you should be holding in your hand this strong, masculine drink so that when someone asks you “Whatcha drinking?” you can proudly respond: French 75.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz gin

1 1/2 Rometti Limoncello

Champagne (more or less, depending on how concentrated you like the drink)

Shake the gin and Rometti Limoncello with ice and strain into a champagne flute. Top with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.

~Enjoy!

Image from Madtini.com

Happy Hour Tuesday: Rosemary and Mint Martini

Happy Hour Tuesday!

Another week, another Tuesday. Rometti Limocello is here to light up once again the second day of the week, aka the average day per excellence. In fact while Monday is also known as don’t-wake-me-up-i-do-not-want-to-go-to-work day, Wednesday is hump day, Thursday is pre-weekend day, Friday is TGIF, and of course Saturday and Sunday were invented to have fun with family and friends, Tuesday is that day of the week that no one would like to be stuck on as it does not taste like pretty much anything. So we decided to give it a connotation and make it taste like… Limoncello!

After saying goodbye to Veteran’s Day, this week does not anticipate any other holiday event to look forward to. Perhaps on this average Tuesday you are working at your desk until late. Perhaps you have already closed all your college books and are just about to meet up with friends for a coffee before going out to happy hour. Or perhaps you just picked up your kids from school and are starting to cook a homemade meal for tonight. No matter what your plans are, you can find some time to sit back and relax: Happy Hour Tuesday is bringing you a cocktail that smells like Fall, Rosemary and Mint Martini.

Rosemary and Mint Martini‘s main ingredient is gin, with its particular pine smell that inevitably brings us back to our childhood’s Christmas holidays, while mint and limoncello lift up our spirit like a breath of fresh air. To top if off, a hint of rosemary with its comforting smell gives to this drink that cozy sensation that takes you home, no matter where you are.

Whatever today brings to you, perhaps this average Tuesday you will be finding some time to sit down and enjoy a delicious Rosemary and Mint Martini!

Ingredients:
(Makes 2 Martinis)
1/4 cup Rometti Limoncello
6 oz. gin
splash of Vermouth
ice
2 sprigs of rosemary, for garnish

Combine Rometti Limoncello, gin, Vermouth, and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until you can’t shake anymore! Pour equally into two martini glasses. Garnish with the rosemary sprigs.

~Enjoy!

Recipe adaptation and image by Rachael, http://www.tokyoterrace.com

Happy Hour Tuesday: Limoncello Negroni

Happy Hour Tuesday!

Back in 1919 Count Camillo Negroni asked Caffe’ Casoni (now Caffe’ Cavalli)’s bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to prepare him a cocktail similar to the Americano but with more gin than soda water. They didn’t know right away that in the bar in Florence would have become the birthplace of a popular drink called Negroni, in honor of the homonymous Count. Almost a century later, here we are introducing a variation of the cocktail called Limoncello Negroni.
The traditional Negroni, still very popular in Italy, is an aperitif made with gin, vermouth rosso and bitter, usually Campari. Vermouth and dry wine are often common ingredients of aperitifs as they are served before a meal in order to stimulate one’s appetite.
The addition of Rometti Limoncello to the traditional ingredients for Negroni subdues the bitterness of Campari, while it increases the sweetness of vermouth and smoothens its taste. Also, limoncello combined with the sharp flavor of gin increases the refreshing taste yet it adds warmth to every sip.
Ordered straight up in a Martini glass, Limoncello Negroni is the perfect fancy drink to savor till the last drop before a tasty, Italian style dinner.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1 1/2 oz Campari
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz Rometti Limoncello
Orance slice or twist for garnish

Pour vermouth, Campari, gin and Rometti Limoncello in a mixer half filled with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

~Enjoy!

Happy Hour Tuesday: Limoncello Collins

Happy Hour Tuesday!

This week we are going to present you with a timeless, classic cocktail, adequate for every occasion, including holiday parties, this cocktail is a perfect anecdote to break the ice and start a conversation: Limoncello Collins.

Limoncello Collins is a variation of the classic Tom Collins, which appeared for the first time in Jerry Thomas’ “The Bartender’s Guide”. It is also possible that the name was taken after the British writer John Collins, as some claim, although both drinks are listed in Thomas’ masterpiece.

What is known with certainty about this drink is its connection to a non-existing character, Tom Collins, who was portrayed as a mysterious man who in 1874 would go around and speak behind everyone’s back. “Have you seen Tom Collins?” became the most popular question for people living in New York, Pennsylvania and surrounding states, to make the listener agitate and look around for Tom Collins, while Tom Collins was nothing more than a prank! This joke eventually grew and became the Great Tom Collins’ Hoax, at the point that newspapers in order to get the attention of the media of the time started publishing articles about Tom Collins’ sightings.

The herbal taste of the gin marries very well with the sweetness of the limoncello (originally the Tom Collins cocktail uses only lemon juice), and together with mint leaves create an explosion of freshness and zesty flavors.

Ingredients (8 drinks):

16 oz Rometti Limoncello
12 oz Gin
8 oz Fresh lemon juice
24 Lemon slices, thin
16 oz Club soda, chilled
8 Mint springs

Combine Rometti Limoncello, gin and lemon juice in a pitcher. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Take 8 collins glasses and press the lemon slices against the inside of each of them. Add ice. Stir the Rometti limoncello and gin mixture and pour it into the glasses. Stir 2 oz of Club Soda in each glass and garnish with mint.

~Enjoy!

image and recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com

Happy Hour Tuesday: Singapore Lemon Sling

Happy Hour Tuesday!

The protagonist of this week’s blog is a South-East Asian cocktail that has been around for almost a century and comes all the way from the Raffles Hotel Singapore: Singapore Sling. Born to be a very feminine drink – as a matter of fact the color is pink!- Singapore Sling is a must for men and women that travel to Singapore, and it is surely appreciated all over the world.

Precursor to Singapore Sling was a drink called Strait Sling, that for some reason in the late 1920’s stopped to be served, and once the hotel decided to serve it again they could not find the original recipe. We do have though a scribbled recipe that can be seen at the Raffles Hotel Museum and that seems to be one of the notes from the original recipe, based on gin, Cherry Heering, Benedictine and pineapple juice.

Singapore Sling is one of those drinks that have had modified quite a few times that pretty much everywhere around the world the taste is different from the one served at the Raffles Hotel. Sometimes more gin was added, other times pineapple juice would be substituted by club soda to give it that foamy aspect, sometimes some bartenders skip the Benedictine and bitters at the base of this complex cocktail.

Today Singapore Sling is considered Singapore’s national beverage, and it’s not by chance that it was created at the Log Bar of the Raffles Hotel which takes the name after Singapore’s founder, Sir Stamford Raffles. And guess what, Ernest Hemingway was a frequent guest here too!

Rometti would like to present you a slightly-revised Singapore Sling version with the introduction of Rometti Limoncello. Singapore Lemon Sling is a bittersweet, textured cocktail that mixes orange and lemon flavors with herbal hints. We hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1 oz gin
1/2 oz cherry brandy
4 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime juice
1/4 oz Cointreau® orange liqueur
1/4 oz benedictine herbal liqueur
1/3 oz Rometti Limoncello
1/3 oz grenadine syrup
1 dash Angostura® bitters

Put all of the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice and shake well. Strain into a tall glass and garnish with a slice of pineapple or a cherry.

~ENJOY!

photos © Grablewski, Alexandra

Happy Hour Tuesday: Limoncello Martini

Dear Reader,

If you are one of those people who enjoy treating themselves every now and then to a fancy night out, then you are going to love this addition of Happy Hour Tuesday!

Martinis has been around for centuries, yet there is no specific person we can thank for such a glamorous drink. Theories attribute Martinis to a drink named Martinez and originated in San Francisco back in the 1860s, but other rumors link its origin to the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City. What we know for sure is that Prohibition increased the popularity of Martinis in the 20th century, when gin was the easiest spirit to manufacture illegally.

But Martini fans are often split between the choice: gin or vodka?

Classic Martini is actually a mixture of gin and vermouth, of floral taste and herbal aromas, often served with an olive or a lemon twist. You can have it dry, sweet or dirty. If instead of gin you use vodka, then you have a variation of Martini, called Vodka Martini and best known as James Bond’s cocktail: “Vodka Martini. Shaken, not stirred“(from the movie Goldfinger). It’s in the 1970s that Vodka Martini with its fruity variations gains more popularity in North America, and booms in the 1980s with the come back of appreciation for cigars, fine spirits, aperitifs and red meat.

If you like fruity drinks but want to stick to something classy, then the Rometti Limoncello Martini is the answer to your palate. It’s quite easy to make, yet its sophisticated taste makes it a vibrant drink that adds a hint of fanciness to your nights out.

Ingredients:

3 oz vodka

1 oz Rometti Limoncello 

1 teaspoon simple syrup

Lemon twist, to garnish

Mix the vodka, Rometti Limoncello, and simple syrup in a shaker half filled with ice. Shake well and serve in a martini glass garnish with a lemon twist. Before pouring the contents in the glass you could also dip the glass first in lemon juice and then in sugar.

~ENJOY!!