Pretoria Dec 2021 / Jan 2022

For the
love of an
Italian gin
cocktail
Roelene’s Hibiscus Gin
For Roelene’s gin cocktail recipe, you’ll
need 30ml gin, 20ml Hibiscus Syrup,
15ml fresh lemon juice and 100ml
Methode Cap Classique.
To make the Hibiscus Syrup, combine
500ml water with 2 cups of white sugar
and 3 cups of Hibiscus flowers. Heat in
a pan for about 12 minutes, stir well,
then remove from heat and strain
through a fine sieve. Chill.
To make the cocktail, shake the gin,
syrup and lemon juice together with
ice and strain into a chilled glass. Top
with MCC.
Tayla’s favourite gin cocktail …
a Basil Smash from Our
Italian Legacy of Love
Tayla’s gone straight to Our Italian
Legacy of Love for her gin cocktail of
choice. It’s named Basil Smash, but the
experience is a summer sunset in an
Italian garden.
You’ll need 50ml gin, 20ml simple
syrup, 15ml lemon juice (or to taste),
8 fresh basil leaves and ice.
To make the simple syrup, put equal
parts water and castor sugar in a pan
on low heat and slow cook until a
syrup forms, then remove from heat.
It will usually continue to thicken, but
shouldn’t be too thick (and make sure
it is clear and not caramel in colour).
To make the cocktail, combine the gin,
syrup, lemon and basil in a cocktail
shaker and shake vigorously. Fine-strain
into a chilled cocktail glass with ice.
The Negroni – along with the Aperol Spritz surely the most famous of Italian
cocktails – is said to be created and named for the Italian Count Camillo Negroni
in the early 20th century. While at the Caffè Casoni bar in Florence, he requested
that his regular cocktail, the Americano (equal parts Campari and sweet
vermouth with a splash of club soda), be made a little stronger, using gin instead
of soda, and orange peel instead of the more typical lemon peel. The result is a
refreshingly bitter, but fairly lethal cocktail … just the one is perfect before dinner.
Since we love the slightly sweeter taste of orange in our Summer cocktails, we
made our Negroni with Ginato Clementino Italian Gin, which has flavours of
clementine orange and Nebbiolo grape.
Ginato is the very essenza dell’ Italia, with its effortlessly chic, timeless, sunshinedrenched
way of life. It’s the combination of three core ingredients – juniper,
citrus and grapes – sourced from all corners of Italy that create Ginato’s trinity of
provenance … the very spirito d’Italia.
To make our version, simply add equal parts (one tot each works easily) of Ginato
Clementino Gin, Campari and sweet vermouth to a glass filled with ice and stir
until chilled, then garnish with a slice of fresh orange.
For other Italian, gin-based cocktails, try Ginato Pompelmo (pink grapefruit &
sangiovese grape flavoured), Ginato Melograno (pomegranate & Barbera grape
flavoured) and Ginato Limonato (Pinot Grigio grape flavoured). You’ll find them for
R380 at cutlerdrinks.co.za
22 Get It Magazine Dec 21 / Jan 22