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All cocktails Commedia All'italiana

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Commedia All'italiana

Aperitivo/aperitif · Bittersweet (e.g. Negroni) · Short and stirred

3.9 29 ratings

Ingredients

5/6 oz Red bitter liqueur
5/6 oz Orange-red aperitivo
5/6 oz Rosso/sweet vermouth
1/2 oz Grappa
1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur

How to make

Serve in a old-fashioned glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist..

Method

  1. 3 STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour profile

18.0% alc./vol. · 1.3 standard drinks · 205 calories

History

Full-flavoured and bittersweet. Some will prefer this aperitivo served over ice in an old-fashioned glass.

Seba Atienza created this drink in Argentina in 2017 for Campari. As a boy, working as an assistant bartender at the Festival del Cine de Mar de Plata, Atienza was liked for treating every customer like a star. This was not style, but fear of looking foolish, as he knew nothing about cinema. One evening, he served an Italian customer who laughed heartily at a joke. As the customer left, Atienza found a ticket for the next night's major preview. Tickets had been sold out for months for this keenly awaited event. Atienza seized the opportunity, wearing his work shirt and tie to the occasion. He presented himself at the main cinema clutching the ticket. Inside the baroque room, he found his seat just in time for the film's presentation. The director called to the stage was the generous Italian customer. He had served a drink to a legend without knowing it, and smiled and winked at Atienza from the stage. After the presentation and film, which lasted just over two hours, Atienza's life had changed. He was transported by the story, characters, and intensity. The movie was a stylish, unforgettable balance, difficult to categorize as sweet or bitter. The next evening, still moved by the experience, Atienza sought to translate the "magical alchemy" into mixology. Using only Italian ingredients, he worked all night, and the Commedia all'Italiana was born.

Created by Seba Atienza