Happy Hour Tuesday: The Corsican

Happy Hour Tuesday!

If you are not Italian or French you may not know that Corsica is a small island located to the West of Italy or to the South-East of France, thus a territory that in the past has been fought over between these two countries. Today Corsica belongs to France and it’s also called Island of Beauty, as it offers a variety of sceneries, from its beautiful beaches where scuba diving is almost a must, to its great trails along the mountains.

The Corsican Cocktail, similarly to the inner nature of the island, mixes a bit of French and a bit of Italian: the aperitif Lillet Blanc with Rometti limoncello. Given the refreshing, zesty taste of limoncello, these two ingredients marry well together since Lillet Blanc contains wine, orange peel and quinine. Their flavors combined make a remarkable, balanced, modern drink, not extremely bitter and with a moderate sweetness. In addition to Lillet Blanc and Rometti Limoncello, eldelflower syrup and club soda are added, which increment the sweet, floral taste that makes this cocktail an enjoyable treat for every occasion.

Ingredients:
3 ounces Lillet Blanc, chilled
7 ounces Rometti limoncello, chilled
3 1/2 ounces elderflower syrup
1 3/4 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 (10-ounce) bottle club soda, chilled
6 lemon twists (optional)

Combine the Lillet, Rometti limoncello, elderflower syrup, and lemon juice in a large measuring cup or medium bowl. Using a funnel, transfer to a 3-cup-capacity bottle (or 750-ml bottle) with a tightfitting lid and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
When ready to serve, pour about 4 ounces of the mixture into a chilled cocktail glass and top with about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 ounces of the club soda. Garnish with a lemon twist, if desired, and serve. (Alternatively, you can combine all of the ingredients except the lemon twists in a 5-cup punch bowl and serve immediately.)

~Enjoy!

Recipe from http://www.Chow.com

Image from OHSOBEAUTIFULPAPER.COM

Happy Hour Tuesday: Italian Fizz

Happy Hour Tuesday!

Today is la festa del papa‘ – Father’s Day- in Italy, as it falls on the same day of Saint Joseph’s Day. In consideration of such great celebration Rometti selected a drink made with ingredients such as Rye whiskey, port and, of course, limoncello: Italian Fizz.

Aged for a minimum of two years in charred, new oak barrels, Rye whiskey is distilled from at least 51% rye (a type of grass similar to barley and wheat). Dry, peppery and with notes of walnut, rye whiskey marries well with Tawny Port, a nutty, woody and dry dessert-wine made with grapes from Portugal fortified in grape neutral spirit aged for 10 years or more in porous wooden casks. The cozy, mellow taste of the two dry ingredients harmonically contrasts with awakening, bittersweet flavor of Rometti Limoncello.

Whether or not you are celebrating paternal bonds today, Italian Fizz is a modern drink to enjoy with your Father any time of the year!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye
1/2 ounce Taylor-Fladgate 10 year old Tawny Port
3/4 ounces fresh lemon juice
3/4 Rometti Limoncello
the white of one egg (optional)
Club soda
Ice

Combine ingredients but ice and soda in a shaker and shake well. Add ice and shake again for 10 more seconds, then strain into a highball glass with 2 ice cubes. Add chilled club soda and stir gently.

~Enjoy!

Image from http://www.foodrepublic.com, Bryan Quinn

Happy Hour Tuesday Valentine’s Day Special: Blushing Sparkler

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today is the sweetest day of the year, the day when if you have a husband/wife or a boyfriend/girlfriend, or simply a friend that cares about you, you might get a box of chocolate that symbolizes the three words that everyone longs to hear: I love you. It’s time to celebrate!
Rometti Limoncello has found for you a special recipe for such a special day, Blushing Sparkler.

Sweet and sour, definitively fruity and bubbly, Blushing Sparkler is perfectly in theme with Valentine’s Day, and – open your ears my friends!- if you choose a zero calorie flavored sparkling water, you might feel less guilty for all that chocolate that you will have eaten before the end of the day! Not to mention that a flavor such as Pink Grapefruit or Raspberries is simply perfect for such a romantic day!

Ingredients:
1 oz whipped vodka
4 oz Cascade Ice Pink Grapefruit
1/4 oz Rometti Limoncello
ice
Lemon wedge to garnish

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice pour vodka, sparkling water, and Rometti Limoncello. Shake well and pour in a chilled glass. Garnish with lemon wedges.

~Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Cascade Ice Sparkling Water

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