Hey! It’s Friday! And in honor of Friday, I have a nice fizzy cocktail for you. Actually, it’s a riff on a cocktail I had on Monday (because starting the week is as hard as ending it is relieving) at Coppa, where I enjoyed Trevor’s birthday dinner while he died of allergies across the table from me. I couldn’t recreate the duck prosciutto or the liverwurst platter for him to try with renewed, allergy-free tastebuds, but I could make him another lemony Italian cocktail.
This drink is made from amaro, honey-lemon-rosemary syrup, and a good splash of cold prosecco. I first discovered amaro only a few months ago, but since then I seem to be noticing it on cocktail menus all over the place. It’s an intensely flavored, dark, semi-sweet Italian liqueur that is great when mixed with lighter alcohols and flavors. Trevor said this was the best drink I’ve ever made for the blog – it falls right in the category of dark, not-too-sweet, fairly strong drinks that he likes best. It’s easy to whip up, so get to it – happy hour is almost over.
Roman Holiday Cocktail
Serves 4.
- juice from 3 lemons (about 3/4 c. total)
- 1/3 c. honey
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 4 shots (1.5 oz) amaro
- 1 bottle chilled prosecco
- more rosemary, to garnish
- Mix lemon juice, honey, and rosemary together in a small pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then immediately remove from heat, stirring to dissolve honey. Let sit 5 minutes, then refrigerate until chilled.
- To make each cocktail, add 1/4 c. of the lemon-honey syrup and 1 shot of amaro to a tall glass. Top off with prosecco, garnish with rosemary, and serve immediately.
That looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe. I will have to try it.
This looks so good! Thank you for sharing. I love the flavor of bitter liqueurs such as Cynar and Fernet Branca and drinks made with them but don’t drink alcohol anymore so I was thinking that this could be made with a good quality bitters ( alcohol free) and soda water or Chinotto for a relaxing “mocktail”. I can’t wait to make this. Yum!
I think a nonalcoholic version would work really well!
So, honey and lemon juice with a sprig of rosemary?
That looks like a tasty Friday tipple! Hadn’t heard of amaro before – just looked it up and it seems like something I should try. Hopefully I’ll be able to source it, or something similar.
This looks lovely is amaro like Jaegermeister? I love rosemary in drinks and sweet treats!
Oh this looks so refreshing! I might swap in red vermouth for this – we love Dolin varieties, they’re great in cocktails but delicious to sip on their own as well!
What is the preferred Amaro for this recipe?
That’s a good question! I’m not an Amaro expert so I used whatever we have… sorry I don’t have a better answer.
We’ve tried a few amaros and prefer Amaro Montenegro. I get it at a local Italian deli but you can also get it online. It’s around $30. I love the flavors embed by the bark and rose petals and drink it alone or mix with any fruit or bubbly drinks, with or without ice. In the South of Italy I was delighted to see they served it at the train stations; a lovely way to wait for a train!