This feminine, refreshing concoction from San Diego import Ambrogio15 offers an exotic trip to Brazil by way of Mexico.
By Nikki Buchanan | Photo by Angelina Aragon
This feminine, refreshing concoction from San Diego import Ambrogio15 offers an exotic trip to Brazil by way of Mexico. Conceived by Italian mixologist and consultant Marco Russo of Milan’s famous Bar 1930, its central spirit is cachaça, the fermented sugarcane juice made famous by Brazil’s signature caipirinha cocktail. Riffing on a classic fish house punch, Russo combines Avua Amburana cachaça (aged in Brazilian hardwood, which brings cinnamon notes to the inherently grassy spirit) with, among other things, Casamigos Cristalino (a crisp, smooth reposado tequila), rose hips tea and a guava-sherbet-infused syrup made with guanabana, a tropical fruit evocative of banana and pineapple. The drink is beautifully balanced – a little sweet, a little tart and a little floral, with more depth and spicy undertones than you’d imagine.
For the best version, go to Ambrogio15. To make a respectable facsimile without steeping dried rose petals and infusing sherbet, combine:
- 1 oz. cachaça
- 1 oz. reposado tequila
- 1 oz. guava syrup
- 1 oz. rose water
- 1 oz. steeped rose hip tea
- ¾ oz. fresh lime juice
- ¾ oz. guanabana (aka soursop) syrup in a cocktail shaker.
- Fill with ice, shake and double strain over a Collins cube into a highball glass.
- Garnish with mint and watch out – this punch packs a punch.
