Candy hearts, boxes of chocolate, sweet fondants and treats – this time of year, sugar is everywhere! However, just because it’s Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean your cocktails have to be overly sweet. How about cocktails that are fun, but also seriously grown-up drinks, and bring something new to the table? San Francisco bartender Carlo Splendorini uses a secret ingredient from Italy to balance his Valentine’s cocktails perfectly: Balsamico!
Carlo helped establish Michelin-starred Michael Mina San Francisco as a front-runner in San Francisco’s cocktail scene. He racks up prizes in national and international competitions with stunning cocktails and he’s an expert in creative refinement, mixing his ingredients in brilliant, often surprising ways. That’s where a few drops of balsamic vinegar come in.
The warm flavors of balsamic vinegar of Modena blend perfectly with cocktail ingredients, bringing depth and nuance to the drink. Carlo proves his point in his Italian Lover, The Gold Cocktail, and Romeo and Juliet cocktails.
Like a fine port, aged balsamics can add layers of flavor and depth, without overpowering other ingredients. F.lli Gorrieri Fig Balsamic Vinegar, for example, is fruit-forward, syrupy in texture, and rich, with only the slightest hints of tartness-creating the perfect top notes to balance out a dish or cocktail.
When entertaining for a crowd, Carlo also enjoys setting up a Balsamico Bar-a unique treat for guests to experience creating a savory cocktail with a personal twist. He sets out the ingredients and recipes for one or more cocktails, and encourages a couple to mix and measure together, adding Balsamico to create their own perfectly balanced cocktail. The result is a fresh, elegant surprise for the palate.
The Italian Lover
by Carlo Splendorini
- 1 1/2 oz. vodka
- 3/4 oz. spiced pear purée (or pear nectar with a sprinkle of cinnamon)
- 1/2 oz. lemon juice
- 1/4 oz. orange juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons (1/4 oz.) I Legni Cherry Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon whisked egg white (or 1 teaspoon powdered egg whites)
- 1 piece star anise (garnish)
Shake ingredients together without ice for a few seconds to blend well. Add ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds more. Strain into a wine glass and float a piece of star anise on top.
by Carlo Splendorini
- 1 sugar cube soaked in high quality balsamico, (we recommend Acetum Balsamic Vinegar)
- 1/2 oz. rum
- Champagne
- orange peel (garnish)
Soak the sugar cube in the vinegar and place at the bottom of a champagne flute. Add the rum and slowly top with Champagne. Garnish with a twist of orange peel.
Romeo and Juliet
by Carlo Splendorini
- 1 oz. vodka
- 1 oz. gin
- 2 tablespoons strawberry purée or finely crushed fresh strawberries
- 1 ½ teaspoons (1/4 oz.) Aged Fig Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 oz. lemon juice
- 1/2 oz. Aperol or Campari Liqueur (slightly bitter aperitifs infused with herbs)
- Pink and black peppercorns (garnish)
Combine ingredients into a shaker tin with ice, shake vigorously for 10 seconds, strain into a Champagne coupe, garnish with a kiss of freshly ground pink and black pepper on top.
[…] until recently, the craft of making cocktails had not been noticed in great detail, and certainly hadn’t obtained the buzz we see today. To […]