Ciao, Friends of Cocktails! Italians know how to make simple and delicious cocktails with the Negroni being an obvious one, but so is the Garibaldi - a frothy mix of orange juice & Campari. They also know how to make unique and stylish liqueurs, like Italicus. Today we’ll use this rosolio di bergamotto liqueur to make an interesting twist on the Garibaldi, combining the citrusy bergamot and the lightly bitter and spicy floral notes of Italicus with grapefruit juice.
This combination was created in 2019 by Luca Missaglia, the Global Brand Ambassador for Italicus, but I’ll be using white grapefruit instead of pink, and I’ll add some saline solution and xanthan gum, so I’m calling it the Garibaldicus No. 2. Also, to make it extra special, I’ll add a unique garnish - a wedge of boozy jello, with prosecco, grapefruit and Yellow Chartreuse. So there’s something for everyone - a simple cocktail and something to blow away your guests. If you’re ready, it’s Cocktail Time.
This time there’s no preparation for the ingredients of the cocktail, so all we need to do is make the garnish, starting with some Clarified Grapefruit Juice.
Clarified Grapefruit Juice
• 260 g grapefruit juice
• 0.52g agar agar
Start by cutting 2 grapefruits from top to bottom (so you’ll be able to use it later to make jello wedges), juice them & weigh the juice (I got 260 g). Now place roughly a quarter of the liquid into a saucepan and add 0.2% of agar agar by the total weight of the grapefruit juice. Heat up and stir constantly to dissolve completely and take off the heat before it starts to simmer. Then pour in the rest of the grapefruit juice and transfer to a bowl that you’ll place it in the freezer or an ice bath for an hour or two.
Once you see the liquid has thickened, break it apart gently and pour it over a cloth filter. Refilter the first liquid coming through by dumping it over the gel on top of the cloth as it still might be slightly cloudy, and give it time to slowly filter. After it is done, you’ll end up with clarified grapefruit juice (this will make a big difference in the appearance of the jello garnish) but this process can be used for any citrus juice you want.
We are now ready to move onto the garnish. We’ll be using instant gelatin, because regular gelatin would need added heat, but since we’re adding prosecco as well, we really don’t want that.
Boozy Jello Grapefruit
• 160mL (5.5oz) Clarified Grapefruit Juice
• 40mL (1.33oz) Yellow Chartreuse
• 200mL (6.75oz) Prosecco
• 30g instant gelatin
Mix the Clarified Grapefruit Juice, Yellow Chartreuse and gelatin, whisking it together for a good 2-3 minutes, until everything is fully dissolved. Now add the last ingredient, the prosecco. If you added this at the start it would foam up too much from all the stirring, making it harder to pour. Speaking of which, make sure your grapefruit halves are hollowed out of all the pulp. You can do this with a large spoon and make sure you only have the skin and the pith left, being careful not to make any holes.
Now place the grapefruit cups in a small bowl, so they don’t tip over as you pour the gelatin mixture into them. Do this through a fine mesh strainer, so you catch most of the foam as you pour and if you still see some on the surface after pouring, scoop it off with a spoon. Finally place the Jello Grapefruits in the fridge for at least 4 hours, so the gelatin solidifies and we are ready to make the Garibaldicus No. 2.
Garibaldicus No. 2
• 45mL (1.5oz) Italicus
• 90mL (3oz) White grapefruit juice
• 2 drops 20% saline solution
• 0.3g xanthan gum
• 30g ice
To get the cocktail frothy we’ll use a blender, but a milkshake maker or even a milk frother would work. Start by adding the Italicus, then the white grapefruit juice, which has more bitterness than the pink grapefruit, so it will pair nicely with the Italicus. Then, as salt enhances citrus notes and rounds off the bitterness, we’ll add 2 drops of saline solution. Finally, like with the Fluffy Jungle Bird, add xanthan gum to make the cocktail keep its fluffy texture for longer - so if you don’t have it, no problem, you always have the option to drink it faster.
Before blending ice for chilling and dilution and now press blend on high speed for the ice to melt in the drink and you’ll have a nice foamy cocktail, then pour it over fresh ice in a chilled tumbler. For the garnish, cut out a wedge of our boozy Jello Grapefruit and place it on top of the glass. Let’s give it a try. Saluti!
The garnish gives away aromas of prosecco and Yellow Chartreuse, but once you take that off the glass and take the first sip you get a cocktail that’s rich and citrus forward. Bergamot and white grapefruit work together beautifully, and the balance of bitter fruit and the sweetness from the Italicus is just right. The garnish has a herbal undertone, cleaning the palate between sips of the cocktail, but also provides a textural contrast with the jello. Wonderfully unified ingredients in this cocktail are a real nod to general Giuseppe Garibaldi, who helped unify Italy.
Today we’re also giving a nod to a new Patron to join the Cocktail Time Wall of Fame, Brandon Alexander. To see how you too can support our work, and have your name added to the set of Cocktail Time, check out our Patreon page. Until next week, Saluti, amici dei cocktail!
To make it easier for you to try these recipes you can grab a bottle of Italicus or Yellow Chartreuse from Curiada, or you can also check out my collection of bottles at CURIADA here: https://bit.ly/cocktailtimecollection
Check out more ideas on how to use Italicus:
• Italicus Fino Spritz: https://youtu.be/LK1aWdqJoVo
• Beegroni, a white Negroni with Italicus and mead: https://youtu.be/bhW8nEIYKY0
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