Monday, December 3, 2012

Cominciare






The name of this drink, Cominciare pronounced co-min-cia-re, is the Italian verb for to begin, or to commence. I chose this name because I feel like this drink is perfect to kick off any occasion. After all I’m using Aperol, which is one of my all time favorite Italian aperitifs, and there’s no better way to begin than with a good aperitif. I was also toying around recently, as a normally would, and I realized that grapefruit is the one citrus mainstay that I don’t mess with too much. Well I decided that needed to change, and I’m glad I did.  For one grapefruit is just plain awesome it really has an incredible balance of sweetness and that wonderful citrus tart. Secondly you don’t need thirty of them to make a handful of drink. Six of them will most likely get the job done for you. So once I made these miraculous discoveries about grapefruit it was only a matter of time before I found what worked well with it. Of course I stuck with gin, why wouldn’t I, it makes way too much sense not to. I’m using Beefeater’s 24 but use any good floral gin i.e. Broker’s, or even Plymouth will work here. I haven’t tried the “Juniper Bomb” gins like Tanqueray, but if that's what you have and it's what you like give it a try and let me know how it is. After the gin, grapefruit and Aperol, I threw in a little more citrus, a little more sweetness and some bitters.

Here’s What You’ll Need

1 ¾ oz Gin (Like I said I use Beefeater's 24)
¾ oz Aperol (You should be able to find this most places, if not those places you’re looking to find it in may not be worth shopping in)
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup 1:1
1 Dash Fee Brothers Gin Barrel Aged Orange Bitters
1 Dash Fee Brothers Grapefruit Bitters
Also Regan’s No. 6 Orange Bitters would work really well, and Angostura Orange Bitters.

Now:
Combine all the ingredients in an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake hard for about 10-15 seconds. Double strain into an ice filled Double Old Fashioned glass and garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

You’re going to get some really great flavors with this drink, first you’ll get that really great citrus flavor and aroma then you’ll taste a subtle sweetness. The finish on the drink is a really great herbal flavor that cleans your pallet and leaves you feeling refreshed. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and as always please subscribe to the blog and leave a comment to let me know what you think. 

2 comments:

  1. Keep em coming my friend, you must return.

    ReplyDelete
  2. by the way, if you are ever in Nashville, i have somewhere spectacular to take you for drinks.

    ReplyDelete