Alcoholist Yet another cocktail blog.

TotC2009 notes: Drink Italy

Drink Italy was a perusal of spirits produced in Italy, presented by Francesco Lafranconi and Agostino Perrone with a guest appearance by Danny DeVito (yeah, that one). My notes on this are a bit fractured and brief, for several reasons: first, it was the last session of the day (I’m shocked they’re as legible as they are, really); second, both Francesco and Agostino have a rather heavy accent; third… well, you’ll see about Mr. DeVito. There were also 25 liquors to be tasted at the end of this session, which went about like you’d expect.

Francesco:

• a brief history of aperativo/vermouth that you ought to know already
• originally medicinal, of course – cordiole, “strengthening the heart”
• Greek & Roman era – fermentation not controlled – mulsum (wine & honey); conditioned wine with honey & spices in clay amphorae [cf, the bars in Pompei - thanks Claire W]
• elixers developed in monasteries, walled from the Barbarians
• picked up knowledge from the Arabs
• 1250 Marco Polo returns with Eastern knowledge
• Crusades as an excuse for claiming the spice route
• Republica Marinari (Milanese)
• Campare Gaspare as an apothecary
  • for indigestion, 2 spoons Campari, 4 spoons “anything else”
  • for children’s tapeworm, 2 spoons Campari
• vermouth:
  • sweet/red/rosso – Italian
  • dry – French
• some nice photos in the slideshow [link?] of the Campari factory in Milano
• amari are:
  • alcohol
  • flavoring (botanicals & spices)
  • sweetener (well, maybe)
  • demineralized water
• the hot techniques:
  • distillation
  • percolation
• cold techniques:
  • maceration
  • infusion
• keep liqueurs in cool, dark place to avoid UV exposure & oxydation
• amaro digestivo:
  • Averna
  • fernet (not just Fernet-Branca)
  • Nonino
  • Montenegro
  • Ramazzotti
  • …
• aperativo:
  • Aperol
  • Campari
  • Cinzano (!)
  • Cynar
  • Biancasorti
  • Sancia
  • …
• cordiale  go up to 192° proof
• liquore:
  • Galliano
  • Strega
  • Carpano
  • …
• Chartreuse just across the Alps from northern Italian producers (Galliano, Carpano, Cinzano(?)), can use the same botanicals
• Further north (Holland), they used more cumin, et cetera (via spice trail)
• Luxardo cherry liquor as alternet to Heering
• “L’ora del’aperativo’ common in Italy for everyone, small snack after work and before dinner, with a drink
• Carpano had the original vermouth recipe
• Disarono influenced by almonds from Arabia [but Katie Loeb calls BS on that, and I forgot to follow up until now]
• Dimmi from Milan

… and then, ladies and gentleman, we present Mr. Danny DeVito, to stagger up to the mic, lay into us about his limoncello (which isn’t bad, but was amply aided by the herb–basil? maybe?–with which it was garnished), and then blather on about the region in which it’s produced along with a video of the region and production of the same.

Agostino:

• Starting out with a drink, L’auntico martini:
  • 10 mL L’auntico Galliano
  • 50 mL London Dry gin
  • 10 mL marsala or dry sherry
  • 3 Celio(sp?) bitter (lemon bitters, essentially)
• Galliano
  • shape of the bottle from Roman columns [Um, really?]
  • color from gold rush [what?]
  • named for Giuseppe Galliano (b. 1846)
  • Arturo Vacconi created it, 1896
  • manufactured by Maraschi e Quirici [not even checking Google on those] in Turin since 1888
  • 4 separate distillates
  • 25 herbs and spices, including lavender, sage, cardomon, cloves, [and I've written "see photos", which is a shame, since those don't exist any more, but I'm sure somebody took some]
• L’auntico Galliano
  • it will replace the existing Galliano [so get a bottle and rebalance your Italian Heather now!]
  • more vanilla notes to draw out the fruit flavors
  • [some silly drink thrown together to showcase sponsors: it has all of L'auntico Galliano, DeVito's Limoncello, and Disarono in it. If after reading all that you still want the recipe, I apparently did note it down...]
  • A serious note on the new/old Galliano: it is actually noticeably different, and I don’t dislike it… but I kind of wish they’d continue to produce both.