Café Italo
Recipe:
- 60ml Nonino amaro
- 22.5ml demerara syrup
- whole egg
- 1-2 orange zests (for shaking)
- (my rec.: 1 dash Fee Bros Whisky Barrel Aged Bitters)
Add one whole medium egg to your shaker, dryshake hard for 30 seconds. Add the other ingredients, slightly twist the orange zests over the ingredients in your shaker, before adding them to it. Shake everything for 10 seconds on big ice cubes. Strain over one large ice cube into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange zest.
A simple but very harmonious cocktail from the bar book of the famous CURE Bar in New Orleans. As with baking, when done correctly, the fluffiness of the egg whites and, in particular, the heartiness of the whole egg make it surprisingly good at capturing the sweetness of the Amaro and spreading it out delicately.
I've had sweeter, more powerful dessert drinks, so don't worry about the amount of liqueur. The original is shaken with one zest, but my perfect serve is at least two zests for the perfect amount of orange oil freshness, as well as a small dash of Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters from Fee Brothers. Angostura would also make it exciting, but it would take it too far away from the idea of an easy, creamy drink with its more intense spices. A gentler, cinnamon-heavy bitter is needed as the finishing touch. On the palate and nose you get lovely orange, peel, its oils, and a hint of leather from the Nonino, impressions of cocoa, herbs mellowed in milk, and a hint of oak.
Source: Kirk Estopinal, in: CURE - Neal Bodenheimer & Emily Timberlake , p.177
