Bellini is an internationally renowned alcoholic cocktail that has entered the official classification of the International Bartenders Association. It belongs to the type of "long-drink" (the same as, for example, drinks "Skriudriver" or "Margarita").
History of creation
The Bellini cocktail brings us its history to the beautiful old Venice - a city of luxury and grace. It was here that in the second half of the 20th century, people first tasted this wonderful drink, which is still popular today.
In order to find out the history of this wonderful cocktail, we will go to a distant troubled time of 1934-1948. It was then that the cult institution Harry's Bar ("Harry's Bar") was owned by Giuseppe Cipriani, who is also known as the creator of Italian specialties of carpaccio. The culinary invented the drink in honor of the great Renaissance artist, Giovanni Bellini. The cocktail with its color scheme resembled the painter’s canvases made in white with pinkish reflexes.
For the first time this alcoholic drink was served as a summer seasonal treat. Regular visitors to Harry's Bar, such as Orson Welles,
Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Humphrey Bogart, enthusiastically appreciated the illuminating and pleasant-tasting drink. Later, the Bellini cocktail entered the menu of the New York bar Giuseppe Cipriani, where he was also met only with approval.
A simple drink recipe, the refined taste of sweet peach and sparkling prosecco made this cocktail incredibly popular. In addition, due to the fact that French companies organized the production of peach puree for a drink, the Bellini cocktail could be prepared and served in any country at any time of the year.
Ingredients
According to the standard, only two ingredients are needed to make this alcoholic drink:
- Sparkling wine - 100 ml;
- Peaches or 50 ml peach puree.
The methods for preparing this cocktail can be different, we will consider each of them.
Bellini Cocktail: Cipriani Recipe
To prepare a drink according to the classic recipe of the creator himself, only the flesh of white peach varieties is used. The fruits are crushed by hand, passing through a strainer to a state of homogeneous mass. If the peach puree is unsweetened, you can add crushed sugar or sugar syrup to it. Then the resulting fruit gruel must be cooled. Prosecco and peach puree are poured into the shaker in proportions 3 to 1, a little ice is added. The ingredients are mixed and decanted into glasses. Serve the drink immediately after preparation, "Bellini" should be cool. Ice is not added to the finished cocktail.
Other recipes
According to other recipes, you can add yellow peaches instead of white peaches to the Bellini cocktail. However, the color of the resulting drink in this case will differ from the original one, therefore, to give the peach puree the desired shade, you can add a couple of drops of the puree of red berries (for example, strawberries, cherries, raspberries) to it. If the mashed potatoes are too thick, you can dilute them slightly with water. Instead of prosecco, you can use any other sparkling wine in the drink , but experts do not recommend using champagne in Bellini. The proportions of peaches and alcohol can vary from 1 to 2 to 1 to 3. The ingredients of the drink, pre-chilled, are recommended to be mixed not in a shaker, but directly in a glass. First, one part of fruit puree is poured, and then two or three parts of sparkling, everything is mixed with a spoon.
For those who lead a healthy lifestyle and do not accept drinks with a degree, there is a non-alcoholic version of the famous Bellini. It is prepared in the same way as a classic cocktail, but the wine in it is replaced with any carbonated soft drink.