(Photo Courtesy of KETEL ONE VODKA)

Max La Rocca

Here I am with my brand new Zacapa Recipe that is coming out in the new book from Gary Regan “The Negroni: a Gaz Regan Notion“

The Negroni, an elegant classic that has brilliantly survived the test of time, has always been the great companion of all my journeys.

The drink I made for this precious little book is called “Camillo in Xela” where  Xela is the indigenous name for Quetzaltenango which is the place in Guatemala where the House of Zacapa is located and where this Rum is aged  at 23 .000 metres; of course you all know who Camillo is…

30 ml Zacapa 23

17,5 ml Campari

25 ml Carpano Antica Formula

5 Coffee Beans plus 2 for the garnish

– Glass: Rocks

– Method: flame the coffee beans with a blow torch, add it to the mixing glass and crush them with the flat end of a barspoon.

Add ingredients and stir without ice for half a minute, then stir with ice and double strain over fresh crystal clear ice.

– Garnish: Long Orange peel attached to the rim of the glass, with two coffe beans inserted and flamed with a small blow torch in front of the guest; this to emphasize the coffee aroma mixed with the caramelized essential oils of the orange.

‘Being from Italy where coffee is a very important element of the culture, I was curious to play with the toasted flavour of  this amazing ingredient, matched with the bitterness of the Campari, the complexity of the Carpano Antica Formula and the beautiful hints of vanilla, almond and chocolate of the Rum Zacapa 23 coming from Guatemala, one of the world’s leading coffee producer countries’

You can buy the book here

Reviewed from one of my recipes dated 2008 let’s bring it to life again through the delicate dark chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon hints found in Don Julio Reposado:

1 1/2 Oz Don Julio Reposado Tequila
3/4 Oz Fresh Lime Juice
3/4 Oz Cointreau
2 Teaspoons Bitter Orange marmalade with peels
Juice of one Passion Fruit

Dissolve marmalade with lime juice in a mixing glass.
Add the other ingredients, shake and double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Serve with a brown-sugar-caramelised passion fruit half.

..I love marmalade drinks, such a nice and velvety consistency on the palate as you drink them!

Or even better..why don’t we serve it on the rocks in a marmalade jar, shaken and opened at the customer’s table?

To celebrate my recent staying in Rome, let me tempt you with a refreshing drink with a romantic name..Romantic just like Rome

INGREDIENTS:
50 ml Home infused Bubble Gum Ketel One Vodka
15 ml Lemon Juice
10 ml Lime Juice
25 ml Agave Nectar
10 ml of fresh pomegranate juice
15 ml Egg White

METHOD:
– Add the ingredients to shaker, vigorously dry shake first, then shake with ice
– Strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass
– Garnish with a Bubble Gum cut with a nice little biscuit mould