Get the Recipe: Bitter Giuseppe
This low-ABV cocktail perfectly balances bitter, sweet, and acidic for a sopisticated sipper at your next dinner party.
Ingredients
- 1/4 ounce or 1/2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice, (about 1/2 a lemon)
- 2 ounces Cynar
- 1 ounce Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth
- 6 dashes orange bitters
Equipment
- 1 rocks glass chilled
- 1 y-peeler or cheese slicer
- 1 paring knife
- 1 cutting board
- 1 citrus reamer or juicer
- 1 Fine Mesh Strainer (optional)
- 1 cocktail mixing glass
- 1 small measuring cup, spoons, or jigger
- 1 Bar spoon or utensil with a long thin handle
- 1 Hawthorne Strainer
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Instructions
- Place a rocks glass in the freezer 15-30 minutes before making the cocktail.
- When ready, clean the skin of an lemon. Then, use a y-peeler, cheese slicer, or even a knife to create a roughly 1in x 2in (2.5cm x 5cm) long strip of lemon peel. Clean up the edges with a knife and gently cut away any pith that may be attached to the underside of peel. Set your garnish aside.
- Next, cut, squeeze, and measure the lemon juice. Strain the juice directly into the cocktail mixing glass with a fine mesh strainer, to get rid of the pulp. (This is an optional step for us neurotics.) and set it aside.
- Remove the chilled rocks glass from the freezer. To it, add a single, extra large ice cube. Set the glass aside for the ice to temper while you build the cocktail.
- Measure and pour the other ingredients into the mixing glass. Add a few medium ice cubes and stir with a bar spoon for 30-45 seconds, to chill and slightly dilute the cocktail. Strain the cocktail into the prepped rocks glass with a Hawthorne strainer.
- Express your prepared lemon peel over the drink by holding the top and bottom of peel horizontally and facing out. Squeeze down to release the oils. Rub the outside of the peel against the rim of the glass and slip it into the drink.
- Sip and enjoy!
Notes
- If you forget to chill your glass, just fill it with ice and set it next to your workstation while you prep the cocktail. Dump the ice right before shaking the cocktail to have it ready.
- I love a cheese slicer for peeling citrus. Especially when the peel is meant to be expressed into a cocktail. This cheese slicer is my favorite.
- Store your vermouth in the refrigerator for 1-2 months after opening. Remember, vermouth is wine with liquor in it. While the spirits slow down the fermentation that occurs when wine is exposed to air, it won’t last forever.
- If you taste the Bitter Giuseppe after stirring and it’s still a little too strong, keep stirring. This isn’t about being cool and dealing with the bitterness of the Cynar, it’s about balance. The dilution during chilling is meant to mellow the bitter amaro.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cocktail | Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 0.02g | Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 0.1mg | Potassium: 7mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 0.4IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 0.4mg | Iron: 0.01mg