Today I was appointed the most dreaded Morning Shift: it’s all about serving coffees to old peole and cleaning shelves. To top that off the weather has been absolutely disgusting for the past two days in Verona and today it was no exception. By mid-shift I was ready to drown myself in one of the puddles out in our terrace, when a ray of light shone over me. Our good neighbors, operating a bnb above my workplace, decided to deliver Xmas presents earlier this year and they presented themselves with a bottle of homemade walnut liqueur “nocino” (these two saviors are almost done infusing homemade absinthe as well…kind souls).

Nocimo in a very fashionable Hendricks bottle

After this unexpected gift I decided that something had to be done to challenge the dullness of the Morning Shift. I started then contemplating the possible uses of this new brown liqueur but the only potions I was envisioning were all very “Alexanderish”, gin based, and creamy: in other words too banal and a sure one-way ticket to winter, the place I was trying to escape from.
Frustrated by my lack of creativity I started to surf the web looking for inspiration when I stumbled upon a post by Fred Yarn. I usually don’t mix tiki drinks nor swizzles but it was just what I needed as a pick me up today. Tiki drinks are playing a major role in this contemporary cocktail revival, so much that I would consider them a movement on their own, but here in Italy they don’t have a huge fan base among mixologist and let’s face it, we work with a real tough crowd, not particularly educated in cocktail culture. All of the more reasons to create something that my customers surely have never tried!
Here’s then my new and only swizzle

“Swizzle me nut”
Ingredients:
1.25 oz. Rum Zacapa solera 15
0.75 oz. Homemade Nocino
0.25 oz. Galliano l’autentico
0.50 oz. Fresh lime juice
0.25 oz. Lgv infused rum*
0.50 oz. Simple syrup
Prep:
Pour all the ingredients except the infused rum in a tall glass. Stir a little to mix the liquids and then add a big scoop of crushed ice. Swizzle until the glass is frosted, top it up with ice if the level gets too low and once the sides are well frosted finish it off with more crushed ice and float the infused rum on top. Garnish with the traditional mint sprig and cinnamon stick, plus a fat lime zest.

* this infused rum is prepared in two different batches, one with lemongrass and the other with vanilla. The result is a mix of the two and I chose just a faint vanilla note for this cocktail. I got to thank Alicia for her help on this one.

The walnut plays really well with the herbal notes of galliano and the acidity of fresh lime, and the whole herbaceous feeling is enhanced by the base provided by Zacapa. The aroma is deceiving as it is a mix of mint, citrus oil and lemongrass, very fresh and zingy. Overall a fresh yet aromatic tiki drink, hopefully it will bring back a bit of summer!