We had all the ingredients for this apple and prosecco drink on hand, except for the prosecco, which never lasts long in our household. I grabbed a bottle on the way home from work and we were good to go.
I was intrigued by the suggestion of using punt e mes, a vermouth I had never heard of. A quick internet search and I knew I wanted to try to find out. According to their website, “According to the story, on April 19, 1870, a stockbroker ordered into the Carpano wine shop with colleagues to discuss the day’s rise in stock prices (point and a half) and ordered his usual Carpano vermouth, but asked the barman to add half a helping of bitters, using the regional expression ‘Punt e Mes.’ The drink was an instant hit as a pre-lunch aperitif, as recalled by then-barman Maurizio Boeris.” As I couldn’t find any locally, we used a 2:1 blend of sweet vermouth and Campari, true to the original.
My daughter is a graduate of the European Bartender School in Barcelona and prepared the drink in less than a minute with fun flair. My wife absolutely loved it. The color was a lovely dark caramel color and filled the wine glass generously.
This is a drink that just begs to be played with. Next time I make it I want to use a dry vermouth (instead of the sweet one) and a dry crisp cider. If you have a sweeter palate, you should go for a sweeter cider and skip the Campari.