“Of all of the drinks in the world, there are few as mystical and confusing as the Appetizer à L’Italienne,” says bartender Ezra Star, who finds herself turning to the oddball concoction as a post-shift drink that can be thrown together with ease. Originally published in 1892 by William Schmidt in The Flowing Bowl, the recipe is an enigma. As Star explains, it’s a “drink that is not an appetizer but a digestif, and a name that is not Italian but French, despite having only one French ingredient.”
Appetizer à L’Italienne
Ezra Star | Hong Kong
Ingredients
Serving: 1
- 2 ounces sweet vermouth, preferably Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
- 1 ounce Fernet-Branca
- 1/4 ounce absinthe, preferably Kübler
- 1/4 ounce Demerara syrup (1:1, Demerara sugar to water)
Directions
- Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
