The culture of mixing interesting drinks has deeply penetrated our ranks and has grown into club life. Even at family holidays, guests are often offered not wine, brandy or vodka, but a variety of cocktails. Connoisseurs managed to make themselves long lists of selected favorites. And one of them was Americano - a cocktail with a pronounced bitterness, medium strength and sophisticated look. Interestingly, people attribute the authorship of the recipe to several personalities. And each version is ardently upheld by its supporters.
Recipe author - Ernest Hemingway
The favorite version about Americano - the famous American writer came up with the cocktail. It's no secret that Hemingway not only loved drinking, but also loved experimenting with mixing drinks. In particular, the famous “Papa Doble” made of white rum, grapefruit and lime juices, with a small dose of Maraschino liquor, belongs to the writer’s pen. As for Americano: the cocktail allegedly was created by him when Hemingway got the idea to combine vermouth with Campari. Naturally, patents for such alcoholic delicacies were not issued in those days, so the legend is considered baseless. And it is not clear why the writer would give such a name to his invention. Rather, he would come up with something more “speaking.”
Another version of the story
More reliable seems a legend in which the author of the recipe was a certain Gaspar Kampari. An Italian by birth, in the 60s of the 19th century he barmen in his establishment and dreamed of leaving for the States. Once, he decided to try mixing Campari from Milan and Chinzano from Turin. He liked the result. He gave it a name - “Milan-Torino”, in honor of the cities where the main ingredients came from. However, pretty soon the name changed to "Americano": tourists from the USA liked the cocktail so much that the author considered it necessary to note this fact in his name. At the same time, he partially realized his dream of transatlantic life.
Ground version
Although, probably, the most primitive history most accurately reflects the origin of "Americano". The cocktail, according to her, was mixed almost simultaneously by several Italian bartenders in 1917. And it got the name because it became a favorite drink of American soldiers who landed in Italy at that time. Be that as it may, Americano is a cocktail loved by the whole world. Even the most famous of the spies, James Bond, in the first of Fleming's books prefers him.
Americano cocktail: recipe and preparation
The composition of the drink is quite simple. We need red sweet vermouth (ideally the same Chinzano) and the Campari bitter in equal volumes. Usually bartenders take 50 ml. A cocktail glass is filled three quarters with ice cubes, both types of alcohol are poured on top. Last introduced soda - one hundred milligrams. The contents of the container are stirred with a cocktail spoon. The edge of the glass is rubbed with citrus (orange, lemon, lime) and decorated with its own slice or zest spiral. Shaking in a shaker while cooking “Americano” is considered a bartender's mistake. But in our nightclubs, many are asked to make a cocktail using this technology, considering that the taste will be more pronounced.
If you like bitterness and want to emphasize it, soda is replaced with tonic. It will turn out the same “Americano” - a cocktail, the photo of which you see in this article, only with increased astringency. If you prefer a stronger drink, but in the same flavor, replace the mineral water with pure gin. At the same time, the cocktail will change its name to Negroni - the name of the General of France, who invented and greatly respected this delicacy. And the French are well versed in the wine list and in all alcoholic delights!