IBA
Ve.N.To – IBA
Dry shake ∙ 5 min ∙ 14.2% ABV ∙
The Ve.N.To is an IBA-listed grappa sour, shaken with lemon juice, honey syrup, chamomile cordial, and optional egg white, then strained over ice.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Dry shake (without ice) all ingredients: Grappa 45 mlLemon juice 22 mlHoney syrup 15 mlChamomile cordial 15 mlEgg white 5 ml (opt.)
- Shake again with ice
- Fine strain into the chilled old-fashioned glass filled with ice
- Garnish with a lemon twist and a grape
- Note: If desired water can be replaced by chamomile infusion in the honey mix
Tips
- Dry shake without ice first to foam the egg white, then shake again with ice; if you leave the egg white out, a single shake with ice is enough.
- If you swap the water in the honey mix for chamomile infusion, let the syrup cool fully before it goes in the shaker so it doesn't warm the drink.
History
Ve.n.to was created by Samuele Ambrosi, head of mixology at the promotional project GrappaRevolution, reworking a recipe from his friend Leonardo Veronesi, owner of RivaBar in Riva del Garda. The two Italian bartenders set out to demonstrate that grappa, long treated as a neat digestif, could work as a mixing base, building the drink around honey and chamomile in a nod to how their grandparents traditionally sweetened the spirit. Giorgio Fadda, president of the International Bartenders Association, backed the recipe's inclusion, and Ve.n.to entered the IBA's official cocktail list in 2020 among the "New Era Drinks," becoming the first grappa-based drink ever added to it.
The name is written with two dots to fuse the abbreviations of the grappa-producing regions the drink honors: "Ve" for Veneto (and Venezia) and "To" for Trentino Alto Adige. Read together, the letters spell vento, the Italian word for wind, evoked as an invisible force capable of linking the two territories.