7 Bottles – Cappelletti Amaro Trentino
As mentioned with my article on the Hoos Sal Miakki, this month’s Home Bar Awards theme is “equal parts”. While I am presenting a specific Amaro to you today, I also want to talk about a specific drinks concept. “Maximalist cocktails” were at least to me new. Despite a few Tiki cocktails, I always thought that a cocktail should make due with as few ingredients as possible. Yet, at the same time a drink should also taste complete. So, this time I am showing you my take.
I was introduced to “maximalist cocktails” by an article on Punch Drinks. They feature different examples of this cocktail “style”. For example, the Amor y Amargo 8-Amaro Sazerac is mentioned. Ever since I read about that drink, I wanted to come up with my own version. However, I thought it was not enough to just make a similar drink. Apart from that, I already had a name for the cocktail inspired by a Ben Howard song.
Classic Italian Amaro
Cappelletti produces the Amaro Trentino from herbs growing in the mountains of Trentino. It is a combination of woodruff, peppermint, centaury and gentian. Furthermore, the Amaro was created in the end of the 1950s and the label remained unchanged until today. The Amaro Trentino has balanced herbal notes with just enough bitterness. All in all, the sweetness in it is noticeable, but not too overwhelming.
Intense herbal notes
So, I mainly used Amaros in my “7 Bottles” cocktail. Yet, I also included Chartreuse and vermouth to balance out all the bitter notes. Basically, I just chose the five Amaros I like most and added them to the other two ingredients. Usually, I would have adjusted the amounts of each ingredient depending on their strength. However, since the motto was equal-parts, I kept them all at a quarter of an ounce.
0,75 cl Cappelletti Amaro Trentino
0,75 cl Charteuse Verte
0,75 cl Ciane
0,75 cl Cynar
0,75 cl Nardini Amaro
0,75 cl Mancino Chinato Vermouth
Garnish: Orange Twist;
Song: Ben Howard – 7 Bottles;
At first, the drink tastes weird, but it gets more balanced with a bit of dilution. Additionally, it is not as bitter as you might think. However, the Chartreuse also adds pronounced herbal notes to the drink. Moreover, through its flavour profile the “7 Bottles” kind of reminds me of a combination of the Hanky Panky and a Negroni. In the end, the drink is a rather unusual combination of Amaros with a lot of herbal notes.
