Cocktails with Grappa di Moscato
Grappa di Moscato is an Italian pomace brandy distilled from at least 85% Moscato grape marc, giving it a distinctly floral, grapey character among grappas.
ABV40–45%
Substitutes for Grappa di Moscato
It is a pomace spirit carrying a grape variety’s perfume, and the perfume is the part that does not transfer. Another aromatic grappa fills the same role, dry and unaged and grape-based, and changes only the perfume. Anything aged changes the drink itself.
Often confused with
Generic grappa is blended from whatever marc is at hand, this one is almost all Moscato. It is markedly more aromatic and floral, and in a cocktail you hear it at once — worth a shorter measure so it does not lead.
Wine brandy
Grappa is distilled from pomace — skins, pips and stems — while grape brandy comes from fermented wine or juice. Brandy is rounder and softer, so it smooths out a drink the grappa was there to sharpen.
Storage
The Moscato perfume is the entire reason for this bottle, and perfume is what evaporates first. Treat it as a wine rather than a spirit in this one respect: buy it to use, keep it closed and dark, and do not leave a quarter-full bottle standing for a year expecting to find the same thing.
