I have already written about Prosecco sparkling wine in this blog, its sales success and characteristics, so this writing will be only about popular summer drinks whit main ingredient - Prosecco. There is no need to measure the ingredients, the beauty of these drinks is in mixing them by taste, the measurements are only informative nature.
Spritz Aperol is one of the best-selling drinks in Italy. Aperol is an aperitif, which has quite a few ingredients: gentian, rhubarb, quinine, indicating a bitter taste. Properly prepared is a real pleasure for the summer months, because it’s a tasty bitter-sweet refreshment. The recipe for this drink is 3: 2: 1, which means combination of 3 units of Prosecco, 2 units of Aperol and 1 soda unit. The glass should be large enough, because there is plenty of ice needed with pouring over the Aperol, Prosecco, soda and a slice of orange added at the end. It’s simple and fun summer drink! In Italian bars, chips or peanuts are usually served with this drink, because they are assuming that you will order another round. Price is from 2,5 € to 4 € / glass, depending on the bar and location.
There are several versions of this drink, one is Spritz Veneziano, where olive on a toothpick is added. Olives should be big, deboned and tasty, giving the drink a new dimension.
Aperol can be also replaced with Campari, in this case we have Campari Spritz, only the measurements need to be adjusted slightly, because Campari is more bitter and contains much more alcohol. If Sprit Aperol is too sweet for your taste, this replacement is in place.
Hugo is an excellent summer drink, very popular in the German speaking parts of Europe. The ingredients are: Prosecco, soda, Elder-flower syrup, lime, mint leaves and ice. First you need a lot of ice cubes in the glass, then Elder-flower syrup (to taste), followed by Prosecco (about 1.5 dcl) and mineral water or soda. At the end add mint leaves and slice of lime.
Martini Royale has similarity to Hugo in appearance and in ingredients: white Martini, Prosecco, lime juice, lime slices, ice cubes and leaf mint. In a glass of ice pour Martini Bianco and Prosecco in a ratio of 1: 1, juice of half lime, mint leaves and a slice of lime.
Bellini is a blend of Prosecco and white peaches. It originates from Venice (Italy), more precisely from the famous Harry's Bar, where it was first blended by Giuseppe Cipriani, somewhere around year 1940. The success of this cocktail was enormous after it was offered for the first time in New York (USA). Bellini is a simple cocktail, but if you are at the Harry's Bar, you will pay a lot for something that you can easily prepare yourself. You need deboned white peaches or other variety of the same fruit, electric mini food chopper and strainer. Chop the peaches, squeeze it through the strainer, put the fruit paste in the glass and pour over very chilled Prosecco. If you want a bit pinker color (such as the original Bellini) add a little cherry juice.
Rossini is exactly the same type of drink as Bellini, just instead of peaches we use Strawberry puree and Prosecco. Recently, Rossini is even more popular than Bellini.
Prosecco Royale is based on the famous French cocktail Kir Royale, which consists of Crème de Cassis (black currant liqueur) and champagne. This is also one of James Bond drinks. Prosecco Royal is prepared by putting a little Crème de Cassis in the glass, and instead of champagne, we use very chilled Prosecco. Cheers!
