Chapter four
Tasting
Seven ways, one pace: the slow pace of a celebration.
Seven serves worked out behind the bar to let the almond and vanilla of the olive wood, the delicacy of the rosehip and the roundness of the oil speak to one another.
They run from a gin and tonic built to open the aromas rather than cover them, all the way to the near-neat serve.
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The perfect gin and tonic
Il Botanico di Cuffiano
- Thirst-quenching
- Elegant
- Respectful
With a complex craft spirit, the point of a gin and tonic is not to cover the aromas but to open them. A tonic that is too bitter or too citrus-forward would undo all the work done on the wood.
Ingredients
- 50 ml Cuffiano 18.262
- 150 ml premium Mediterranean tonic water, very low in sugar
Garnish
A sprig of fresh thyme, clapped against the back of the hand to release its essential oils, and a single sweet green olive — Nocellara or similar — not in sharp brine.
Method · Build
Fill the glass to the brim with large ice cubes. Pour the gin, then add the tonic, letting it slide gently over the ice so the bubbles survive. Stir with a single movement from the bottom up.
Glass Balloon glass or tall tumbler
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Olive Martini
Giusy & Mimmo
- Dry
- Savoury
- Silky
A reworking that sits halfway between a Classic Dry and a Dirty Martini. It plays on texture — the feel of the drink in the mouth — and uses the natural roundness the oil gives the gin.
Ingredients
- 60 ml Cuffiano 18.262
- 10 ml French dry vermouth
- 1 drop of Cuffiano extra virgin olive oil
Garnish
A dried rosehip bud, or a twist of lemon expressed over the surface and then discarded.
Method · Stir & strain
Pour gin and vermouth into a mixing glass full of ice. Stir with a bar spoon for 30-40 seconds: this chills the drink and gives it the right dilution, which is what tames the alcohol. Strain into the chilled glass. With a dropper, let a single drop of oil fall in the centre: it will form a golden lens on the surface that scents every sip.
Glass Martini glass, pre-chilled
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The aperitivo
Negroni Bianco dell'Uliveto
- Bittersweet
- Herbaceous
- Complex
A classic red Negroni would flatten the delicate rosehip and the elegance of the olive wood. The White Negroni is the connoisseur's choice for fine craft gins.
Ingredients
- 30 ml Cuffiano 18.262
- 30 ml Lillet Blanc, or a very good white vermouth
- 30 ml gentian liqueur — or a bergamot rosolio for a more citrus version
Garnish
A sprig of fresh rosemary.
Method · Build & stir
Pour every ingredient straight into the glass over a single large block of ice. Stir gently for twenty seconds.
Glass Old fashioned glass, one large block of ice
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Almond & Wood Sour
Mandorla & Legno Sour
- Enveloping
- Sweet-sour
- Foaming
A competition recipe. Olive wood naturally gives off almond and vanilla: this preparation amplifies exactly those aromatic precursors.
Ingredients
- 50 ml Cuffiano 18.262
- 20 ml fresh lemon juice, strained
- 15 ml good quality orgeat syrup
- 10 ml pasteurised egg white, or aquafaba for a vegan version
- 1 dash of orange bitters
Garnish
Coffee powder, or a very fine grating of tonka bean over the foam.
Method · Dry shake & shake
Put every ingredient into the shaker without ice and shake hard for fifteen seconds — the dry shake, which whips the egg white. Open the shaker, fill it with ice and shake again to chill. Double strain through a fine mesh.
Glass Nick & Nora, or any stemmed glass
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The near-neat serve
Il Rituale 18.262
- Pure
- Essential
- Meditative
For the guest who wants to understand the spirit properly, without the blow of alcohol served at room temperature — and who refuses the sorbet trick.
Ingredients
- 50 ml Cuffiano 18.262
- 5 ml ice-cold still water, about a teaspoon
Garnish
None. At most a coin of pink grapefruit peel, with the bitter white pith removed.
Method · The water drop
Pour the gin at room temperature and add the teaspoon of cold water. That tiny addition is a master blender's trick: it breaks the surface tension of the spirit, softens the ethanol slightly and lets the aromatic esters — the molecules that carry the scent of wood and flowers — rise to the nose. Swirl the glass gently and serve. The grapefruit peel is only spritzed over the glass to mist its oils, then discarded: it does not go in.
Glass Tulip-shaped nosing glass
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The botanical spritz
L'Oro di Cuffiano
- Fresh
- Floral
- Sparkling
A lighter reading of the spritz, made for the opening of the celebration in the August heat. Elderflower lifts the floral notes of the rosehip and the strength stays low, so it suits every guest.
Ingredients
- 30 ml Cuffiano 18.262
- 15 ml elderflower syrup
- 60 ml prosecco, or brut sparkling wine
- 30 ml soda water
Garnish
Half a slice of lemon and a small sprig of fresh mint, clapped against the back of the hand.
Method · Build
Fill the glass with plenty of large ice cubes. Pour the elderflower syrup and the gin first. Add the prosecco and finish with a gentle splash of soda. Stir softly from the bottom up to blend the sugars without knocking the fizz out.
Glass Large wine glass
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The summer long drink
La Brezza di campagna
- Thirst-quenching
- Sweet-sour
- Velvety
The long drink par excellence, built to be extremely refreshing. The acidity of the lemon, balanced by the softness of the honey syrup, bridges perfectly to the woody profile of the olive.
Ingredients
- 40 ml Cuffiano 18.262
- 20 ml fresh lemon juice, strained
- 15 ml acacia or wildflower honey syrup
- 60-80 ml craft lemon soda, to top
Garnish
A twist of lemon, expressed over the surface of the drink and then laid on the ice.
Method · Shake & build
Put gin, lemon juice and honey syrup into the shaker with ice. Shake hard for ten to fifteen seconds to chill and blend the sour base. Strain into a highball full of fresh ice. Top with the lemon soda and lift the ice gently from the bottom up.
Glass Highball, fresh ice
Take your time
This gin was made for a celebration, not for a rush. Drink it sitting down, with the right people, slowly.
Please drink responsibly.