Spritz, Aperol Spritz

Spritz is a cocktail from Northern Italy. It's ingredients are: Aperol, Prosecco and carbonated water. It's served 'on the rocks' in an old fashioned glass (a wine glass is also suitable). Garnish with a slice of orange.

3 cl (one part) Aperol

3 cl (one part) Prosecco

3 cl (one part) carbonated water.

Variation: use a white wine (Pinot Grigio or Tocai) instead of Prosecco.

On the Aperol bottle it lists the following ratio: 3 parts Prosecco, 2 parts Aperol and 1 part carbonated water.

I tried the latter (3:2:1) and it tasted absolutely great.

Photo: Travis Breaux.

Heiße Oma

I have never been on a ski holiday and certainly not in the Italian Alpine region. Heiße Oma is a hot alcoholic drink which is only known in the Italian Alps (as far as I know). The alcohol is provided by bombardino an Italian liquor which consists of eggnog and brandy (or rum).

To make Heiße Oma (2 mugs) heat 500 ml milk (don't boil).



Add a package of vanilla sugar.



Add 125 ml bombardino (or a bit more).



Heat and mix.

Cold brewed coffee

Time: 5 minutes, plus 12 hours' resting

4 x 7 grams ground coffee (medium-coarse grind). A standard coffee spoon contains 7 grams of coffee.

In a cafetière (= French press), stir together coffee and 350 ml cold water. Let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. Let the ice melt and remove last bits of ice.

Add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream for German Eiskaffee.

Cold brewed coffee contains very little caffein and doesn't have a bitter taste.

Chai Recipe

For my own reference:

Boil 5 min. then steep for 10 min.:

1 tbsp fennel or anise seed
6 green cardamom pods
12 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
ginger root, sliced thin
1/4 tsp black pepper corns
2 bay leaves
7 cups of water

Add, bring to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes:

2 tbsp Darjeeling tea

[Filter]

Add:

6 tbsp honey or brown sugar
1 cup milk