De Kuyper Royal Distillers has collaborated with bartending icon Salvatore Calabrese to launch a new aromatic liqueur called Acqua Bianca.
Available from February 2020 via Cellar Trends, Acqua Bianca is the latest addition to De Kuyper’s signature collection of liqueurs made by top bartenders for bartenders worldwide.
In the creation of Acqua Bianca, Salvatore revived and reworked a recipe taken from an antique book dating back to the late 1800s.
The liqueur is made using all-natural ingredients such as lemon from the Amalfi Coast and bergamot from Calabria in Italy, as well as peppermint and rose, bound with essence of ambergris, which is more traditionally used in perfumery for “depth of flavour”.
Acqua Bianca is described as a finely balanced, uniquely aromatic liqueur, fresh with citrus mint and the sweet, floral notes of rose.
Developed with versatility front of mind, it can hold both dark and white spirits and can be enjoyed either chilled over ice or straight from the freezer or at the centre of a cocktail.
The bottle design of Acqua Bianca, created by Salvatore’s daughter Francesca Calabrese and her design agency Five Foot Eight, resembles a book, with the label as the spine. The blue and turquoise colours have been chosen to reflect the fresh and floral notes of the liqueur.
Salvatore said: “My idea was to create something totally unusual that does not yet exist in the market.
“It had to be something very versatile – a liqueur to inspire new cocktails, and that is able to take the centre stage in any cocktail creation.
“Thanks to the expertise of De Kuyper’s master blenders, we were able to transform my idea into this masterpiece.”
Suggested cocktail recipes for Acqua Bianca include:
Acqua Bianca Frappé
50ml Acqua Bianca
Crushed ice
Pour Acqua Bianca into a balloon or an old fashioned glass and fill with crushed ice.
Spritzer Fresco (pictured above)
25ml Acqua Bianca
15ml Italicus
15ml Pink grapefruit juice
Prosecco
Pour Acqua Bianca, Italicus and pink grapefruit into a large wine glass filled with ice, and top up with prosecco. Stir and garnish with a twist of lemon.
Sal’s Stinger
40ml Cognac VSOP
20ml Acqua Bianca
Pour all ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass.
