I am not, as stated in other places, a medical doctor. Neither am I Doctor Johnny Fever. I do know that according to many many old wives, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, however. I am not trying to sew discord between old wives and doctors, either, but am saying that even if a true doctor wouldn’t prescribe this drink, the fact that it contains apple cider means that it does, according to old wives, have some medicinal properties. Oh, it has rum, too, which many folks once thought was healthy, unless it was being forced on you by pirates. If that wasn’t enough for you to realize the healing factor of this drink, let me add that its third ingredient is Sidetrack Distillery Nocino, the finest Nocino made outside of Italy. Nocino, if you need to know, is a green-walnut liqueur, well and famous in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. And everyone knows that walnuts are healthy. Maybe doctors really would order this, after all. At least Doctor Fever would.
It’s a proud day in Spiked Punch land – our pal Ed Skoog has a new book out and ready for reading. It’s his latest poetry collection (he is a poetic genius, as well as being a dandy drink maker, bonny bar companion, general good egg, and cute) and it’s called Rough Day, and you should get it today! Then, after getting it, come back and watch Ed make his world famous Ellipse in the below Cocktail to Cocktail Hour episode, which we’re resurfacing from way back in season 2 in honor of his new book.
My absolutely favorite thing in the world at this moment (well, outside of my dogs) is Meletti Anisette. I wrote about my trip to the Meletti Café (which was lovely), and having some of Meletti Anisette while there, and how great and perfect it was – but on some level, I always wondered if a little of that sentiment was due to being Italy. How to tell? Try some of the same here in the old U.S. So, I picked up a bottle, and you know what? It’s exactly as good here. It’s the tops, it’s the coliseum (as the song goes). Just by itself, with an ice cube or two, it makes me very happy. However, because I’m a tinkerer (not that I drive a wagon around fixing up pots and pans, but that I tinker with liquids), I’ve been wondering if it would also be great with things. And you know what (again, do you know what, or what)? It is! I kept my mixing really, really simple, cause simplicity is awesome and why mess around much, just adding some of the Meletti to another favorite, Woodinville Whiskey Company bourbon, in a classic 5-to-1 combo. Oh my! It’s delicious. I’m calling it (for obvious reasons) The West Coast of the Le Marche. Have one instantly. Or quicker. You can thank me later.
1: Filled a cocktails shaker or mixing glass with cracked ice. Add the bourbon and the anisette. Stir well.
2. Fill an old fashioned or comparable glass (preferably a commemorative Nutella jar from Italy) with a couple fat ice cubes. Strain the mix over the ice. Relish the loveliness.
I was in Italy recently (and yet still, thanks to the wonders of modern blogging, had posts up. Cause that’s how much I care. A whole lot), which isn’t too much of surprise for those who know me. I used to live there (detailed in detail on the Six Months in Italy blog), and have pals and favorite restaurants to visit when I go, as well as intriguing amaros and liqueurs and wines to track down and artistic sites and vistas to see. All that. This last time, I visited a city in Le Marche called Ascoli Piceno for the first time. It’s an off-the-tourist-track kind of a place by and large, but it has a lovely city center, all made of travertine, and some very lovely churches, and a history of pottery making. All good stuff. But perhaps best of all, it’s where the Meletti company is, a company known for making delicious imbibables. I was introduced to their products by the dashing Spirits Director at Vinum Importing, Andrew Bohrer (who also writes the blog Cask Strength). What I didn’t know, though, until getting to Ascoli Piceno, was how amazing the Meletti Café is.
It sits right on the corner (in the below shot, back right) of the city center I mentioned, which is known as the Piazza del Popolo, and which is one of the prettiest piazza’s I’ve been in:
After visiting it, I think I can say with some authority (considering just how many bars, lounges, watering holes, etc that I’ve been in) that Café Meletti is an awesome bar to spend a few afternoon hours within (in Italy cafés seem like local bars to me, as there is usually as much tipsy drinking as coffee drinking). I’d even go out on a tipsy limb and say one of the world’s best. It has an art deco-y style with remarkable tabletops:
interiors:
and a beautiful bar manned by charming and helpful bartenders:
I ordered a Meletti Anisette, which is the most well-known of the Meletti offerings, and which is the finest anisette available anywhere. It has a layered anise flavor and an underlying sweetness that tastes pure and natural; it’s a liqueur that’s meant to be savored and not shot back, and one that mixes like a champion dancer into cocktails – but which has to be had solo (or with three very small additions) to be completely understood. I got it over a few ice cubes, and was going to have it just like that, until a gracious older Italian gentleman reached over and added three espresso beans for me. These are the “mosche” or flies, and not only add a faint pleasant zing to the flavor, but also represent health, happiness, and prosperity.
All of which I’m for. I took the Meletti Anisette outside to the tables there, and sipped it while watching the people stroll the piazza. It was an experience I’m darn glad to have had, and one I suggest you try, if you get the chance (and if you can’t get to Ascoli Piceno, then pick up a bottle of Meletti and have it on your back porch).
So, I’m in Italy. And since it’s springtime, and sunny, I’m sitting outside of Bar Pina (which is outside of Umbertide), one of the finest spots anywhere to sit in the sun and have a beer. I mean, it’s in Italy. Which means that this Friday Night Cocktail isn’t as fancy as others, but I wouldn’t trade it for any of them. And if you want to feel jealous about it all, well, that’s up to you. But a better impulse might be for you to just come on over to Pina your-own-self. It’s pretty darn fun.
PS: Yeah, Dr. Strange drinks with me when I’m at Pina. And you thought it couldn’t get any better.
It’s weird, but I don’t think I’ve had a Cocktail Talk post featuring a quote or quotes from a Donald E. Westlake book. Or, I just can’t track one down. Or maybe it’s not so weird — I haven’t read a ton of Westlake, but it feels like I’ve enjoyed enough books here and there. And now I’m meandering. Bank Shot is a caper book, one of like 100 books by Westlake (oh, he also wrote the screenplay for The Grifters, which is rad), and probably the only book where the not-always-so-smooth criminals rob a bank by actually stealing the whole bank building. It also was the basis for a movie. They also do a lot of their planning in the back of a bar, which is if not the safest at least the most congenial spot I can think of to plan a robbery. And you can have a drink while planning. They drink a fair amount in Bank Shot, too, and now I have drawn everything full circle, which means it’s time for the quotes:
Victor said, “I’m drinking tonight.” He sounded very pleased. Dortmunder ducked his head a little more and looked at Victor under his fingers. He was smiling, of course, and holding up a tall glass. It was pink. Dortmunder said, “Oh, yeah?” “A slow-gin fizz,” Victor said.
He had planned his menu with the greatest of care. The cocktails to begin had been Negronis, the power of the gin obscured by the gentleness of vermouth and Campari.
This is quite a continental moment here on the Spiked Punch. First, tonight, like I usually do on the continent, I ate too much. Then, to combat my over-indulging, I had a healthy dose of Elisir di Salvia, a digestif I made from a recipe taken out of a simply-named book, Tisane, Liquori and Grappe. I have no idea who it’s by, but it’s from the Demera Company and is Italian (which means I translated the recipe. Yeah, I do everything for you. But you deserve it). I picked it up in a little tucked away bookstore in Sansepolcro’s historic center, called Arca Dei Libri. Nice place, really. Only blocks from the can’t-miss-it restaurant Fiorintino. Anywho, Elisir di Salvia is a curious mix of stuff, and the taste reflects it: herb and spice sweetness at the beginning, mellowing Marsala middle, totally different backend flavor and kick. At first, I wasn’t sold, but now I think it’s a weird kind of genius drink. And yes, I felt better after having it after eating too much. Oh, when in the jar cooling its heels, it looks like this:
Elisir di Salvia
1 liter Marsala
1 cup fresh sage leaves
1 orange rind
2 cups high proof vodka or grain alcohol
1/2 cup warm water
1.6 cups sugar
1. Add the Marsala, sage, and orange to an airtight glass container airtight. Let sit for 10 days to two weeks. Shake at least once a day.
2. Dissolve the sugar in the water to make a syrup, let cool, and then add it and the vodka.
3. After 24 hours of rest (or a week, if you’re lazy like me), filter and transfer to a glass bottle. Take 1 shot from the liqueur in all cases of difficult digestion.
Poor amaretto. So many folks these days consider it a boozy beverage drunk by college students during the hours when they (and when I, back then, between us) have more drinks than brains. But listen up: this isn’t the case. The dandy-est amaretto is something that Italians savor and so should you. It’s a treat, if you don’t mind finding brands like Gozio, Luxardo, and Disaronno, amarettos that have been made with a sense of taste and care and ingredients that are real and not chemistry experiments. The end result should be a deep almond flavor (which comes from apricot or peach pits, usually) and not overly sugary.
And while we’re dolling out pity party invites: poor summer. It’s far out the rear window now, and you’ve probably forgotten all about those days of sun and cut-offs (though a nice fall sunny day is savorable much like the good amarettos mentioned above). This drink will remind you, for a few sips at least, of those shore-bound summer day and help re-introduce amaretto as needed. The recipe’s from Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz, if you wondered.
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces dark rum
1 ounce amaretto
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
Wide orange twist, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the rum, amaretto, and vermouth. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Twist the twist over the glass and drop it in.
A Note: I like a pretty wide twist here, so don’t fear following the same route.
