Strega

[raxelita]

BLT Fish has the Streganator, owning to beverage director Fred Dexhimer's love of the liquor.

They make it with oj, lime and soda in a rocks glass if I remember properly.

I've made same adding a touch of gin with good results.

[eje]

I should have posted this sooner, as the contest is over now.

In any case, over on The Spirit World Last month they had a contest they are called Raiders of the Lost Cocktails.

While we are certain there are great new cocktails yet to be discovered, we are equally certain there are great old cocktails that have been lost to the vagaries of time and chance. Some have been recovered by the new masters, but many have not. They are out there, in books and magazines, but they are at risk…

Accordingly, TSW is proud to announce a new monthly reader participation feature: Raiders of the Lost Cocktails.

The idea is simple: find a published cocktail that is not well known today, but should be.

For the first contest, the challenge spirit was Strega.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to track down a bottle until the contest was over. But, now that I have one, and am not sure what to do with it. It seems like it would work in at least an interesting way in just about any cocktail that calls for Chartreuse. But, beyond that, I haven't seen much in the way of cocktails that truly feature Strega.

The last post in this topic was over a year ago, surely someone has come up with something new and interesting with Strega in that time.

[rlibkind]

Eric Felten's cocktail column in Saturday's Wall Street Journal featured Strega, including a recipe for a Wicked Witch: 1 oz. Strega, 1 oz. Averna amara, 1 oz. unfiltered apple cider, shaken w/ice and strained.

[Susan in FL]

I haven't come up with something new and interesting to do with Strega since this topic was active, but your post prompted me to try. Thanks! (Where's Katie Loeb? )

[birder53]

When moving this past summer, we drove with a bottle of Strega in the car since it didn't fit in any of the boxes going on the moving van. After an 8 hour drive and delivery pizza "the best pizza in Zanesville, OH" we decided to open the bottle. Ice and strega. Don't know why it took us so many years to finally try it! It was tasty and refreshing. Reminiscent of chartreuse. We almost finished it by the end of the three day drive.

[Journey]

I love Strega as well and i love this drink that i made with it, although i am still in search of a name for it. any ideas?

1/2 oz strega

2 oz Santa teresa Solera rum

dash oj bitters

burnt orange peel

[eje]

After plying my wife with a "Last Word" last night, I experimented a bit with a Strega variation.

It still needs some work; but, it wasn't bad.

3/4 oz Lime; generous 3/4 oz No. 209 Gin; scant 3/4 oz Strega; scant 3/4 oz Monin Orgeat; shake and strain into cocktail glass.

I don't quite know why I felt drawn to the Orgeat instead of Maraschino. Maybe sheer perversity, or perhaps due to recent discussionhere.

In any case, it definitely gave the cocktail more body, which we weren't quite sure about. It seems like the dry finish of the Last Word is what gives it a lot of its "more-ish" charm, despite being 1/2 half fairly sweet liqueur.

I think next time, 3/4 oz Lime; 1 oz Gin; 1/2 oz Strega; 1/2 oz Orgeat.

[KatieLoeb]

*I'm Here! I'm Here!* (Dr. Suess reference for Horton Hears a Who fans)

Strega makes an interesting substitution for Chartreuse if one is short. Not exactly the same, by any means, but will certainly stand in and make a quite potable cocktail in an emergency situation.

I bet that Strega is delicious with an espresso. I shall have to try that soon. I feel that I should be listening to opera whilst drinking it though, for atmosphere and proper staging.

Edited November 5, 2007 by KatieLoeb (log)

[eje]

Eric Felten's cocktail column in Saturday's Wall Street Journal featured Strega, including a recipe for a Wicked Witch: 1 oz. Strega, 1 oz. Averna amara, 1 oz. unfiltered apple cider, shaken w/ice and strained.

←

Uh, um, interesting?

Way too sweet for me, though.

Hadn't tried Averna Amaro before and picked it up for this. Sweet, raisiney and not very bitter.

1/2 oz Strega, 1/2 oz Averna Amaro, 1 oz Clear Creek Apple Brandy, 1 oz apple cider, and a couple dashes angostura bitters. Whew! Much better. Apple pie in a glass? Cold mulled cider? Drinkable, anyway.

[Journey]

I haven't come up with something new and interesting to do with Strega since this topic was active, but your post prompted me to try.  Thanks!  (Where's Katie Loeb?  )

←

I like to use strega in drinks that call for Chartreusse, (especially yellow). One drink that i like a lot, (i call it La Chavista) is:Strega, Santa Teresa Solera rum, orange bitters and burn orange peel. another great drink with Strega in it is: Strega, orgeat syrup (homemade, not the commercial crap) orange juice, lime juice and white rum, it is delicious.

[Berlioni]

Strega is an excelent Liquor. It starts somewhere near Galliano, but develops complexity further than Bénédictine twoards Chartreuse; being less herbal spicey but slightly sweeter with hints of liquorice and gentian (?!)

I wonder, why Strega hasen't found its way into Vintage Recipe Books. As Katie Loeb mentioned, it works quite well with Espresso. Four sugestions:

"Papageno"

5 cl Mozart White Chocolate

1,5 cl Liquore Strega

1-2 cl Wray & Nephew White Overproof

Shaken & Strained into chilled Cocktail Glass. Named after the baritone in the "Magic Flute"

"Sarasto"

5 cl Cognac

1,5 cl Strega

dash Sugar

2-4 cl Espresso

Shaken & Strained into chilled Cocktailglass. The Bass of the above Opera.

"Witches Brew"

6 cl Hendrick's Gin or Saffron Gin

0,7 cl Liquore Strega

dash Luxardo Maraschino

dashes TBT Aromatic Bitters

Build slowly in an Old Fashioned Glass over Ice Cubes. Generous Mandarine or Orange Twist. A Variation on the (Old Fashioned) Gin Cocktail. Named in recognition for Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew"

"Saffron Gimlet"

6 cl Saffron Gin

1,5 cl Rose's Lime Cordial

0,7 cl Liquore Strega

3 drops fresh Lime

Strired & Strained into chilled Cocktail Glass.

Enjoy.

Edited November 23, 2007 by Berlioni (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Bought my first bottle of Strega today, and I'm intrigued. Seems like a wildly under-utilized ingredient with a lot of potential. First attempt:

2 oz Plymouth gin

3/4 oz Strega

1/4 oz Fernet Branca

2 dashes Boker's bitters

Stir; strain; no garnish, though a lemon twist might be nice.

Needs a name.

[LoneSavant]

I find Strega mixes really well with tequila- I make a Strega-Tequila sour at my bar, smoothed out with a little lavender syrup, that's really quite nice!

[Mayur]

Strega is a great addition to a margarita (or really any Daisy variant) as well. It's a great substitute for yellow chartreuse in drinks like D&Co's Wicked Kiss, and a ton cheaper.

[evo-lution]

Bought my first bottle of Strega today, and I'm intrigued. Seems like a wildly under-utilized ingredient with a lot of potential. First attempt:

2 oz Plymouth gin

3/4 oz Strega

1/4 oz Fernet Branca

2 dashes Boker's bitters

Stir; strain; no garnish, though a lemon twist might be nice.

Needs a name.

Sounds intriguing, must give this a bash and have a think about a name for you.

I recently created the following drink;

Ernst Happel

25ml London Dry Gin

25ml Strega

12.5ml The Bitter Truth Apricot Brandy

12.5ml Kirsch Eau de Vie

25ml Fresh lemon juice

2 Dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters

Method: Add all ingredients to a mixing glass fill with cubed ice and shake hard for ten seconds. Fine strain

Glass: Vintage cocktail

Garnish: N/A

Ice: N/A

The name has a great back story to it...

[Chris Amirault]

Who be Ernst?

[EvergreenDan]

Love Ernie: http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/ernst-happel Thank you. I increased the lemon a bit when I substituted R&W Apricot Orchard, which I assume is a bit sweeter that TBT.

Also tried Chris's No-Name. I thought it needed a touch of acid and tried lemon, which was nice (1/2 oz). I might try Vermouth (or maybe Fino sherry, but I'm out at the moment). Interesting balance, with just the right amount of Fernet.

[Chris Amirault]

Settling on Burning Times Cocktail: Stregheria is Italian for witch, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts is where Salem is located. And Salem, you know....

[slkinsey]

. . . Stregheria is Italian for witch . .

Strega is Italian for "witch." Stregoneria is Italian for "witchcraft," and stregato is Italian for "bewitched."

Stregheria, as far as I can tell, is a modern word used or adopted to describe more or less the Italian version of Wicca (much like the spelling "magick" in English) , and appears to be much more commonly used among English speakers describing a supposed "old religion" in Italy than actual Italian speakers.

Edited October 13, 2010 by slkinsey (log)

[evo-lution]

Who be Ernst?

Ernst Happel is a former Austrian footballer (soccer player) who passed away in 1992. To mark his death the Austrians changed the name of their Praterstadion to the Ernst Happel Stadion. The Praterstadion was also the stadium where former Scottish footballer Andy Gray scored his first competitive goal for Scotland. Andy Gray now works for Sky Sports in the UK and presents his own football program after a weekend's series of games which is called The Last Word. Which brings me back to my drink. I think there's an unintended similarity between The Last Word and and my Ernst Happel cocktail in their structure and flavour...

[scratchline]

I really like this cocktail by Rick of KaiserPenguin and Marshall of Scofflaw's Den--it features Strega very nicely:

Cilician Voyage

1oz Citadelle Reserve gin

1oz Strega

1oz lime juice

1/2oz grapefruit juice

1/2oz cinnamon syrup

1 dash Fee’s whiskey barrel-aged bitters

1 dash Fee’s grapefruit bitters

ginger beer, to top

Build in a glass with crushed ice. Give it a few twists of the spoon and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a cinnamon stick, lime twist, and some saffron if you’re feeling luxurious.

One warning: do not, I repeat, do not use Fee's cinnamon syrup. Bleagh. I like Sonoma Syrup, and I'm sure there are other good brands out there. Might want to start with 1/2 the amount of cinnamon syrup and sweeten to taste. I have made this on the rocks as I'm not always motivated to crush ice...

The Citadelle Reserve is not always easy to find--very good, though.

[Chris Amirault]

Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli has an equal-parts variation on Audrey Saunders's Goodnight, Irene that works well subbing Strega for yellow Chartreuse:

1 oz rye (Rittenhouse)

1 oz Strega

1 oz Fernet Branca

Stir; fresh rocks; orange twist.

The Strega brings out the chocolate notes of the Fernet more than the Chartreuse does. Nursed this for an hour of Lady Gaga costume building last night.

[vice]

Isn't the Goodnight, Irene just bourbon and Branca Menta? That looks more like a riff on what Tom may have been calling the Goodnight, Chris, which I suppose could have evolved from the Irene.

[Chris Amirault]

Yes, that's right and what I was trying to say up there. Goodnight, Irene -> Goodnight, Chris -> This Thing.

[Chris Amirault]

Two Strega drinks tonight. First, the aforementioned Burning Times:

2 oz Plymouth gin

3/4 oz Strega

1/4 oz Fernet Branca

2 dashes Boker's bitters

Stir; strain; lemon twist.

Second has a more interesting backstory. In 1937, the United Kingdom Bartenders' Guild, President one Harry Craddock, published a little book called Approved Cocktails (scribd version here), in which a drink invented by Jack Powell made an appearance:

Ott's Special

1 1/2 oz dry gin (Broker's)

3/4 oz Strega

3/4 oz dry vermouth (M&R)

dash Regan's orange bitters

dash Fee's orange bitters

Stir; strain; orange (lemon here) twist.

I wish I knew who Ott was, because he is, indeed, special. This is a fantastic drink.