Featured Cocktail: Infusions at A Voce

Arthur Bovino — July 01, 2010

From left: Margarita in Fuoco, Platino, and Melone infusion cocktails at A Voce.

Vodka fruit infusions are nothing new, but when it comes to summer, they make for refreshing cocktails. They can be colorful with flavors as varied as your imagination is creative, they’re easy to make, and they give a sense of participation in the cocktail-making process.

A great spot to enjoy infusions is in the shade in a chair outside A Voce Madison, where they make three seasonal drinks designed by Olivier Flosse, their wine and beverage director: Melone, Margarita in Fuoco, and the Platino. Sharing Cassoncini con Prosciutto de Parma, sipping a cocktail, the dying light cast down 26th Street, you get that “it’s summer in New York” feeling.

The Margarita in Fuoco has bite, but not too much, a salted rim, and pepperoncini garnish to bring home the heat. The second, the Platino, may be the one that’s just right. It definitely hits the tiki trend— fruity, sweet, and punchy, with an impressive centimeter of foam that supposedly comes not from egg whites, but from the pulp of the fruit. The Melone is refreshing and not too sweet— a light-handed, melon-infused vodka drink that’s an obvious summer go-to.

As nice as it is to sit on the terrazza outside the restaurant enjoying these drinks, recreating them in your own special spot in the City may be even better so we’ve included the recipes below.

 

Infusions on the terrazza at A Voce Madison: peppers, pineapple, and melon.

At A Voce they fill five-gallon Verona Grande infusion jars with fruit, vegetables, and liquor, steeping them for five days at a time, every five days. For the pepper infusion, the mix is more tame than you might expect: red, green, and yellow peppers for flavor, with roasted poblanos and habanero peppers for heat. The second infusion is the simplest, fresh pineapple. Lastly, fresh cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon are used for the melon infusion.

 

Margarita in Fuoco.

INGREDIENTS:
1½ oz tequila infused with peppers.
½ oz Triple Sec
½ oz lime juice
1/5 oz simple syrup
lime for garnish
pepperoncini for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Shake all the ingredients and pour into rocks glass.
2. Garnish with a salt rim, lime wedge, and pepperoncini.

 

The Platino.

INGREDIENTS:
1½ oz pineapple infused vodka
½ oz Crème de Cassis
1 oz lime juice
1 oz ginger ale
pineapple for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Shake the vodka, crème de cassis, and lime juice with ice and then strain them into a martini glass.
2. Garnish the cocktail with a floating pineapple ring or a slice on the rim.

 

The Melone Infusion.

INGREDIENTS:
3 oz melon-infused vodka (cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon)
1 oz limoncello
watermelon for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a shaker and serve in martini glass.
2. Garnish with a slice of watermelon.

 

Cassoncini con Prosciutto di Parma.

Cocktails are $7.00 during the weekday happy hour from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, otherwise they are $12.00 at Madison, and $13.00 at Columbus. The Cassoncini? They’re a great bar snack— Swiss chard and Crescenza cheese inside fried dough, with Prosicutto di Parma. Creamy, salty, cheesy. What’s not to like? As for a recipe, with this one you’re on your own. There are reasons we go to restaurants.