The next in our series of non-alcoholic IBA cocktails is the Bellini. The Bellini is categorized as a ‘Contemporary Classics’. The Bellini was first served at Harry’s Bar in Venice. Creator Giuseppe Cipriani invented the cocktail somewhere around the 40s of the last century. The cocktail was originally only on the menu during the summer when there was an abundance of peaches. The Bellini quickly became popular in the Harry’s Bar branch in New York. a few years later, when peaches were available during the entire year, the drink became a classic in both bars throughout the year. Giuseppe Cipriani called the cocktail ‘Bellini’ because the colour of the mix of peaches and prosecco reminded him of the colours used in the paintings of the 15th-century painter Giovanni Bellini.
Peach Puree
A Bellini is made with peach puree and prosecco. In the beginning, strawberry puree was also added to give the cocktail a rose tint, but because strawberries were scarce at the time, they were quickly removed from the recipe. Two more variants of the Bellini are mentioned by the IBA. You can make an alcohol-free Puccini based on the recipe below by replacing the peach puree with mandarin juice. For an alcohol-free Rossini you use strawberry puree instead of peach puree, an alcohol-free Tintoretto has the peach puree replaced by the juice of a pomegranate.
What do you need?
- 1 chilled champagne glass
- 10 cl. Alcohol-free sparkling wine (ideally non-alcoholic prosecco, but because we did not have it, we used Codorniu 0.0)
- 5 cl. Peach puree
How do you make it?
First you make the peach puree by mixing one or more peaches in a blender. For a good result you can add a very small amount of water, then you get a smoother, more liquid puree. You successively pour half of the peach puree and half of the sparkling wine into the cooled glass. You stir this mixture gently. Now pour the other half of the peach puree into the glass and carefully stir once again. Finally, pour the last 5 cl. of sparkling wine in the glass and stir again. It is not necessary to garnish the glass or the coktail, but you can put a slice of peach on the glass to make it even healthier. Cheers!
