Aperitivo cocktails
Make a trio of aperitivo cocktails to delight your guests – choose from a chin chin, a plum-itivo sour or a tomatini.
Ingredients
For the chin chin
- 45ml/3 tbsp Aperol
- 10ml/2 tsp limoncello
- 180ml/6fl oz chinotto
- twist orange peel, for garnish
For the plum sugar syrup
For the plum-itivo sour
- 45ml/3 tbsp London dry gin
- 10ml/2 tsp Sipello Bitter Aperitif
- 20ml/1fl oz plum sugar syrup (made above)
- 15ml/1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 egg white
- candied plum slice, for garnish
For the olive oil vodka
For the tomatini
Method
To make the chin chin, add all ingredients to a spritz glass filled with ice, stir, add orange peel and enjoy!
To make the plum sugar syrup, place the plums into a saucepan along with the sugar and 100ml/3½fl oz water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Once the plums have gone juicy and soft, remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool and sit overnight. Strain out the plums and put the sugar syrup into a sterilised jar for up to two weeks.
To make the plum-itivo sour, add all the ingredients, except the candied plum slice, to a cocktail shaker and shake hard (this is a dry shake without ice). Then add ice and quickly shake again to chill the cocktail. Strain into a tumbler over a big ice cube and garnish with a candied plum slice.
To make the olive oil vodka, mix the vodka and olive oil in a preserve jar with a lid. Give it a good shake and leave untouched for 24 hours to infuse. Place the jar in the freezer for a minimum of 4 hours until the olive oil has solidified. Strain out the olive oil and use the vodka as below. Don’t throw away the olive oil though – once it’s thawed out, it can be used in cooking so the vodka burns off.
To make the tomatini, rim a chilled coupe glass with lime and dip into a mix of salt and pepper to create a salt and pepper rim.
Muddle the tomato in the base of a cocktail shaker.
Add the olive oil vodka, vinegar and a pinch of sea salt to the cocktail shaker then shake with ice. Double strain into the chilled coupe and garnish with a cherry tomato.