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| Blood Orange Negroni Photo Credit: familystylefood.com |
A cocktail hour traditionally plays a big part
in an Italian wedding, or indeed any wedding in Italy. When everyone arrives at the reception venue, this is their opportunity to chat, congratulate, and mingle with you and your other guests in a more relaxed setting than the sit-down meal which follows. The drinks served are accompanied
by plenty of food (traditionally cured meats, cheese, bread and dips, and other
delicious finger foods) and the cocktail hour is known as aperitivo.
But what to drink? People tend to go for
something other than wine, especially before a wedding lunch or dinner, where
wine will be served throughout. Italians love aperitivo, not just at weddings,
but every day after work in the city too. For this reason, barmen are totally
used to spending hours making cocktails (and mocktails), and as a result they’re really, really
good at it! If you have a fruit, flavour, or even colour in mind, the Italian
cocktail whizzes will be able to come up with your own signature cocktail
that’s perfect for your special day.
If you’d like something more traditional, here
are five of our favourite Italian drinks choices that you might like to
consider for your cocktail hour:
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| 1. Prosecco is a fairly common choice for cocktail hours in Italy. This sparkling wine is Italy’s answer to champagne, and tends to be a little bit lighter than its French counterpart. As we’ve said before, wine and food in Italy varies a lot based on the region, so you may find Piemontese proseccos a little sweeter and those from the Veneto reason to be a lot more dry, for example. Served in flutes, this is obviously a great choice for making a toast to the newlyweds! Photo Credit: Jonathan Young Weddings via stylemepretty.com |
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| 2. The Bellini cocktail came about in the 1930s or 40s in Venice. It’s made up of sparkling white wine or prosecco, fresh peach and peach juice. Fun fact: It is said that the name was coined by the head barista of Harry’s Bar (where it was invented) who said that the colour of the drink reminded him of the colour of the clothing of a saint in a painting by Giovanni Bellini. This cocktail is refreshing and fruity for a summer reception, and would be ideal if you had a peach colour theme, too! Photo Credit: unsophisticook.com |
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3. A common and equally scrumptious variant on the Bellini is the Rossini – the name is said to come from the composer Gioachino Rossini, but maybe it’s also something to do with the colour of the drink – in Italian ‘rosso’ means ‘red’. Like the Bellini, this is a fruity and refreshing drink with a prosecco or sparkling wine base, only this time the fruit is strawberry. Yum!
Photo Credit: bellalimento.com
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| 4. The Spritz is the ultimate Italian aperitivo drink. Although Campari exists abroad, and Aperol is slowly making its way into foreign shops and bars, outside of Italy these drinks haven’t had the same popularity. Enter the Spritz. Made from Italian bitters – choose between Campari (dark red in colour, quite bitter) or Aperol (bright orange, less alcoholic and a little sweeter) – along with white wine or prosecco, and fizzy water or soda, the Spritz is your introduction to these bitters. Although many foreign people don’t like their first sip of Spritz, they are soon converted, as it’s a very refreshing drink which goes well with the finger food provided at cocktail hours here. Photo Credit: sabato.co.nz |
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| 5. The Negroni came about in the early 1900s in Florence in the honour of the Count Camillo Negroni. Made with gin, Campari, sweet red vermouth and a little slice of orange, it’s a drink not for the faint hearted as it has a bitter taste, but like the Spritz, it can be a perfect accompaniment for food and is warming in the winter yet cooling in the summer. Photo Credit: nytimes.com via Pinterest |
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