Beverage Director Abe Vucekovich of Meadowlark Hospitality (Lardon, Union, and newly opened craft cocktail lounge The Meadowlark) and former lead bartender and General Manager of James Beard Award winning craft cocktail bar The Violet Hour, talks the new Sbagliato craze.
Chicago bartender Abe Vucekovich’s cocktail, Happy Accident, is a riff on the Sbagliato and the Garibaldi (fresh orange juice and Campari). Abe has over a decade of experience behind the bar, most recently as general manager and lead bartender of James Beard Award winning cocktail bar, The Violet Hour. Currently he is the beverage director for Meadowlark Hospitality in Chicago, including Lardon, beer-centric Union, and recently opened The Meadowlark, a hidden-away craft cocktail lounge where he’s doing some really fun and immersive themed menus.
When making his twist, the Happy Accident, he was inspired by both the Negroni Sbagliato and the Garibaldi—taking the Sbagliato and adding fresh orange juice. “We use a centrifugal juicer that juices entire oranges,” shares Abe. “Which produces a fluffy, and with the prosecco, bubbly mouthfeel to the drink.”
The story behind the Sbagliato is it allegedly came from a bartender’s mistake. A bartender in Milan in the 1920’s took an order for a Negroni—added the vermouth, the Campari, and then grabbed the bottle of gin and began to pour. Instead of the silky liquid of the gin cascading from the bottle, bubbles descended on the drink. Low and behold, it was a goofed-up Negroni, which loosely in Italian translates to Negroni Sbagliato.
By now, most people have seen or heard of the TikTok sensation in which the prosecco drink got a plug by two actors from the House of the Dragon. The Negroni Sbagliato is a riff on the classic Negroni, which mixes equal measures of Campari, sweet vermouth, and gin. “I think it’s a good example that the reach of virality can really hit anywhere, including the bar,” says Abe. “A celebrity says something cool and unknown to most people, and suddenly I’m adding my twist on a Negroni Sbagliato to the menu because of it. I’m sure Campari is very happy. “
Thanks to actor Emma D’arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen on House of the Dragon, HBO’s recent reboot of the Game of Thrones franchise, the ”Negroni… Sbagliato… with Prosecco in it” is blowing up. The actor called out the aperitivo style cocktail as their “drink of choice” in a recent interview, a clip of which went viral on TikTok with over 11.2 million views.
The Sbagliato, which is the full name of the drink, no need to say with Prosecco or call it a Negroni, ”actually fits into a larger trend we’re seeing in cocktails—the rise of bitter drinks,” says Abe. The cocktail’s signature red hue and bite is supplied by Campari, a bitter orange amaro which is a category of spirit that’s on the rise, because of its flavorful punch and low ABV,” explains Abe.
According to Abe, adding any amaro or bitter liqueur to a cocktail has been a tradition forever, but he thinks it’s now a trend for a couple reasons:
- Amari are delicious on their own and impart so much flavor when mixed with other ingredients.
- The general growth of cocktails has, I think, moved the common bar goer’s palate to enjoy all things bitter.
- Amari traditionally are much lower-ABV than your typical base spirits and drinking lower-ABV drinks allows you to drink more tasty cocktails in an evening—great for guests and bar programs as well.
Abe is inspired by the attention the cocktail has gotten. “Let’s keep it going!” he says. “I think drinks like the Sbagliato give a sense of decadence to a drinker, which is a part of what cocktails are all about—feeling transported to a different time and place. I can imagine looking out onto the streets of Milan in the 20s enjoying a Negroni Sbagliato with prosecco.”
HAPPY ACCIDENT
by Abe Vucekovich
Ingredients:
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz Cocchi Rosa Americano
- 3 oz Fresh Orange Juice
- 2 oz Prosecco
Preparation: Bottom glass with sparkling. Add other ingredients to the shaker. Dry shake. Fill the Pilsner glass with ice. Pour shaker ingredients over ice. Top with more ice if needed. Garnish with half-moon.
The post Behind the Cocktail, Happy Accident, Bartender Abe Vucekovich’s Riff on Sbagliato appeared first on Chilled Magazine.
Source: Mixology News
