The Champagne Cocktail: one of the most famous and elegant drinks in history reinterpreted with the lump of Bitter Sugar with wild mountain herbs from Bagolino.
“Welcome to the North” , the Champagne Cocktail recipe according to the Roner distillery, an original interpretation of the great classic.
The “Welcome to the North” Champagne Cocktail is made with Gin Z44, Privat Caldiff, sparkling wine, chestnut honey syrup, lemon juice, caramelized Socher Amar (bitter sugar) and flavored with Amaro Alpler spray and capped with a velvet top of cirmol liqueur.
The idea came in 2016, during the last stage of Baritalia Lab (a traveling training event dedicated to Italian bartenders on the subject of mixing) at the Palazzo del Ghiaccio in Milan, where the Roner distillery team decided to focus on some emerging aspects of contemporary mixology by experimenting with new and daring pairings under the banner of product territoriality, a field in whichItaly can boast countless excellences, such as precisely the lump with wild herbs from Bagolino.
The Champagne Cocktail: a drink with more than 150 years of history behind it
It was in 1862 that Jerry Thomas published the first cookbook on cocktails, How to Mix Drinks, where 200 traditional recipes are collected, among which only 10 are categorized as cocktails, a term by which, in those days, was meant a drink made from distillate, sugar, water and bitters.
Among them is the famous Champagne cocktail, which immediately became very popular lending itself very well as an aperitif and to pairing with food (among all, fish and shellfish, caviar, cheese, gruyere, black truffle and salmon, but also fruit, such as apple or banana), thus becoming the most elegant and refined cocktail, which it still retains today.
Elegance and refinement with a touch of Brescian tradition!
Personally, I would call it an “all day cocktail”: it can be drunk at any time of the day, from an aperitif to a special occasion when there is something to toast to. In any case, it should not be paired with dishes that are too spicy or particularly fatty, but with more delicate foods (Debora Tarozzo)
The secret ingredients
Ingredients for “Welcome to the North” cocktail with Bagolino’s bitter sugar by Elis Carriero:
- 1 crystal of “Socher Amar” caramelized and flavored with Amaro Alpler spray 20 ml Gin Z44
- 15 ml Privat Caldiff
- 1 tablespoon chestnut honey syrup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Sparkling wine
TOP velvet by Zirbel Cyrmol liqueur Twist on Cocktail Champagne
A second version we offer is the one by Debora Tarozzo titled “Mother Nature.”
From nature with passion
“Mother Nature” cocktail ingredients by Debora Tarozzo:
- 9 cl of Cavit Müller Thurgau Cuvée Speciale Millesimato 2015 (elegant, smooth wine with character)
- 1 cl of grappa Roner Vintage Editio
- 1 lump of Söcher Amar from Bagolino (consisting of hand-picked wild mountain herbs)
- 1 drop of Roner Amaro Alpler (bitter recreated on an old peasant recipe from the 1800s)
- 1 drop of Roner Zirbel (Cirmolo liqueur made from hand-picked pine cones at an altitude of 1,500 meters)
Preparation:
Soak the bitter sugar cube with Zirbel liqueur and Alpler bitters and place it in the bottom of the previously chilled flûte. Pour in the reserve grappa and top with Cavit’s Müller Thurgau Cuvée Speciale Millesimato 2015.
Decorate with wildflowers and pine cone sprayed with aromatic mountain pine water.
Serve.
What is Bagolino’s “socher amar” or “wild herb lump”?
It is an artisanal herbal candy, taken from an ancient recipe, when women in days gone by gathered fresh roots, herbs and berries in the mountains surrounding Bagolino (BS) that were used to make this lump with countless properties at home .
For a long time, more than a century, socher amar has been satisfying those who love natural things. bbuono has known those who hand down the traditional recipe and work by traditional methods, it is the earth that nourishes and nature that heals.
These lumps can also be used in a variety of other ways, here are a few:
- Herb schnapps: In a 70 cl bottle of white schnapps add 300 g of söcher amar, stir occasionally until the lumps dissolve.
- Herbal infusion: in a cup of hot water dissolve 3-4 lumps of söcher amar; those who wish may add a tablespoon of honey.
- Summer drink: in one liter of lukewarm water dissolve 200 g of söcher amar, it will keep in the refrigerator for three days.
- Herb granita: in one liter of lukewarm water, dissolve 200 g of söcher amar, create ice cubes and then crush them for granita.
Would you like to try it too? Use socher amar to create your own cocktail and post the photo on our Facebook page.
Be creative, be crazy, get a bbuono prize for whoever collects the most likes!
