Fragoli!

Having just finished the holidays, my birthday, and with Valentine's Day around the bend, some mention of Fragoli seems in order. 

I first tried this fun strawberry liqueur at an ABC Carpet & Home event early in December (I was there for a tea tasting, a later post for sure).  At the entrance, I was handed a plastic flute of pink-tinted champagne with a bunch of small berries floating in it.  Upon requesting a refill, I saw that this was not a specially-made cocktail--the berries came directly from the bottle!

I was so enamored, I asked Mum to buy a bottle for our Christmas Eve festivities.  Be warned: this juice is kinda strong (24 proof, 48% alcohol/volume in our 750ml bottle).  The flavor is lovely and delicate if in correct proportion to your mixer.  We seemingly added so little to our prosecco and still, it ended up deep red and syrupy.  You need a very light hand in pouring Fragoli.  A common ratio seems to be 1 part Fragoli to 4 parts mixer.  

Fragoli is an Italian strawberry liqueur made by Toschi with real, hand-picked, wild forest strawberries floating in it.  The berries are inherent to the production of this liqueur.  One of the producers compares it to a vintage wine, in that once all the wild strawberries are picked, the liqueur can no longer be produced until the crops are replenished. 

And never fear, you won't be short on berries as long as you have a bottle.   The makers have a carefully-guarded secret to keep them consistently coming, from first pour to last.  It could be in the shape of the bottle, or in the berries themselves, but somehow, something enables Fragoli to produce endless perfect pours.  Each will distribute a proportionate amount of berries into your drink, until the bottle's finished. 

Perhaps compared to some other liqueurs, it's actually almost good for you.  Research finds that adding ethanol (the alcohol in most spirits) to strawberries and blackberries ups their antioxidant nutrients.  I may not reorder my resveratrol supplement this month!

There is something so holiday about this liqueur, but that doesn't mean it wont be great in summer, or year-round, for that matter.  I'm thinking this would be a fun replacement for grenadine in a Tequila Sunrise.  It's great with bubbles, but also with vodka.  It could be a good addition to a white sangria.  And I'm dreaming of it poured over lemon sorbet.  On the bottle they recommend it over fruit salads and ice cream.  You could really go wild (strawberries) with it.

(There is another, slightly harder to find and much older Italian wild strawberry liqueur: Fragolino di Nemi.  I hope to try it.)

Welcome!

I have always thought I had too many disparate interests.  I make a living designing jewelry and making costumes for theatre.  I have studied many languages for the hell of it, some useful in places I haven't yet visited.  I love history, ancient and recent.  I collect perfumes and teas obsessively and I apply and consume them daily, respectively.  There are more.  But it was in was trying to simplify these varying interests that I realized some are not so disparate after all.

Tea, wine, and perfume.  No doubt wine lovers have a basis for understanding perfume.  And in a recent class at New York City Wine School, the lecturer made several analogies to tea.  Lovers of one can surely appreciate another.  These three things are inextricably linked, I think!  And there's more to go along with them.

I'm going to use this blog to casually mention the sensory liquids, and the like, that I come across, as well as the far-reaching and ancient rituals that involve them.  It wont be strictly relegated to tea, wine and perfume.  I want to find what bridges the gaps, blurs the lines and expands horizons.

Cheers, enjoy!