Contents
In general, there are a lot of little-known drinks, and even a lot. Some never become stars in their category, some gather dust on the bar shelves in the hope that they will come up with some delicious cocktail with them (we recall the success of Pisan Ambon liqueur). There are some drinks that are not popular here, in the CIS – they simply did not find a wide response from the public. However, in a good bar you can always find something unique. Undoubtedly, bitters, all bitters without exception, are such drinks.
Do you know many representatives of this class? You must have heard about Campari, because it is one of the most popular drinks in Italy, almost like Limoncello, only the latter is loved to cook in the south of the country, and the former in the north. Probably heard about Angostura. I am almost sure that few of you have heard about the Italian bitter Chinar, but he is and feels, I must say, not bad at all. Here we’ll talk about it.
What are beaters and the origin of the purebred Italian drink Chinar
Bitter is translated from German as “bitter”, which fully describes the taste qualities of this group of drinks. These are tinctures based on roots, herbal extracts, leaves of medicinal plants, citrus peel, spices, etc. based on vermouth, liqueurs and other “alcohols”. In fact, these are tinctures that can be conditionally divided into two main types. The first type of beater is bitter, very concentrated and is used very carefully by bartenders in the preparation of some classic cocktails, for example, Horse Neck, which includes Angostura bitter.
The second type is intended for direct ingestion, that is, as a regular digestif, to improve digestion. By the way, this group of bitters includes Becherovka, and the notorious Jägermeister, and even Riga Balsam. The Italian Chinar is also one of these bitters, and in Italy it is second only to the hyped Campari.
Although the label of bitter Chinar flaunts the image of an artichoke, the taste of the drink is determined not only by this plant, but, to be more precise, not so much. To a greater extent, the taste is due to a dozen herbs and pomace from plants, declared and not declassified by manufacturers. However, connoisseurs identify among the possible components rhubarb, sweet and bitter orange, gentian, and even edible thistle. The rest is yet to be guessed.
Despite the abundance of herbs in the recipe, for the name of the brand itself and further advertising of the product, the Italians needed, namely, the artichoke “Cynara cardunculus”. A plant known since ancient times, and now widely distributed in Italy, France, Greece and South America. The taste properties of the artichoke-vegetable, of course, played a role in choosing the “face” of the drink. But it was the medicinal properties that became decisive, necessary for creating the image. Jaundice and scurvy, rheumatism, atherosclerosis and a number of other serious diseases have been cured with the help of artichokes since ancient Roman times. Eureka! Just what you need! Such a familiar to chefs, but at the same time, a mysterious component for bitter that has not fully revealed its secrets! And the Italians, having made a bet, did not lose.
Unlike long-lived liqueurs, Chinar’s biography is relatively short and leads the way from the early 1950s. It was then that the 16,5% Cynar bitter was released by Pezziol in Padua (northern Italy). Yes Yes! the same Pezziol company, whose founder Jean Baptiste Pezziol, being a talented confectioner, took and invented egg liqueur in 1840. And all because Jean Baptiste did not want to throw away the remaining egg yolks in production. He added to them a strong Sicilian dessert wine “Marsala” and sugar. In the local dialect, “eggs” is “vovi”, and the liquor has become the famous “VOV”.
But back to the artichoke liqueur. Bartenders quickly instilled a culture of drinking it as an aperitif, digestif, tonic, soda or orange juice. And in the 1960s, Chinar was very actively promoted by commercials on television. One of the most popular videos – “Italian agent-007” Ernesto Chalindri conducts tests on himself, and explains their success with the incredible properties of Chinar. Decades have flown by, since 1995 artichoke bitter has been produced by Gruppo Campari, positioning itself as “after dinner bitter”. The drink, as before, is supported by promotional videos.
Cocktails with Chinar bitters
Until recently, “Cynar” was a rare guest in bars, but the unusual visualization of the artichoke drink and the wave of interest in bitters have clearly added points to popularity among bartenders. Chinar has become common as a cocktail ingredient. Derek Brown (Washington), The Art of Choke by Kyle Davidson (Chicago), The Trident Cocktail by Chuck Traggart (New Orleans – Los Angeles), “Cynar Flip” is rapidly spreading.
And even the Negroni has found a new life since 2004, when the famous Berlin bartender mixologist Gonzalo De Souza Monteiro replaced Campari with Chinar, turning the cocktail into Berlioni. Actually, here’s the recipe for the seed:
Berlioni Cocktail Ingredients:
- 1 ounce Tanqueray dry gin;
- ⅔oz Chinara;
- ½ ounce Noilly Prat dry vermouth.
Preparation:
- pour all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice;
- mix well;
- strain through a strainer into rocks (old fashion glass);
- garnish with a twist of orange peel.
By the way, “The TridentCocktail” contains the already familiar aquavit. It is prepared like this:
Ingredients for a cocktailTheTridentCocktail»:
- 1 ounce of aquaquita;
- 1 ounce Chinara;
- 1 ounce sherry;
- 2 dashes of peach bitters.
Preparation:
- pour all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice;
- mix well with a bar spoon for 20-30 seconds;
- strain through a strainer into a cocktail glass;
- garnish with a twist of lemon zest.
Who does not remember, 1 ounce is equal to our 30 ml, and to be precise – 29.5735296 ml. Drink to your health, literally and figuratively. You can easily find recipes for other drinks in the open spaces of the bourgeoisie. You had the Rum Diary with you, bye! *hi*