Cynar Artichoke Liqueur: Welcome Addition to Cocktails

Cynar is an Italian aperitif created from thirteen herbs and plants, artichoke being the most predominant. The color is reddish, dark brown and the flavoring is bittersweet. Like most aperitifs, Cynar may be served over ice or mixed in a cocktail with soda water and a citrus wedge. Europeans often consume Cynar with orange juice. However, Cynar is quite versatile as it may also be mixed with beer or champagne. My personal favorite is an occasional Negroni made with Cynar in place of the customarily called for Campari.

March 16 celebrates the artichoke ~ National Artichoke Heart Day

As is often the case with unusual types of liqueurs or aperitifs, the selection of available recipes is slim or difficult to find.  In searching the internet, site after site listed the same recipe over and over: Cynar Cocktail. With a flavor profile as unique as Cynar I knew there had to be a few over the top cocktail recipes out there. Time spent looking for recipes has been worth the effort.

Cin Cyn – crafted by Chris Cunningham of Dino, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC

1-1/2 ounce Gin

1 ounce Sweet Vermouth

1/2 ounce Cynar

Place ice in rocks glass. Add ingredients in order given. Stir.

Tonica al Fresco – crafted by Dale DeGroff for Jovia, NYC

1-1/2 ounce Gin

1/2 ounce Cynar

2 dashes Orange Bitters

2 ounces Chilled Tonic Water

1 Lime Wedge

Fill highball glass two-thirds full with ice. Add gin, Cynar and bitters. Top with tonic. Squeeze lime wedge over top and drop in. – Tonica al Fresco is an Italian spin on the traditional Gin & Tonic.

Thistle

3 ounces Vodka

1 ounce Orange Juice

1/2 ounce Premium Orange Liqueur

1/2 ounce Cynar

Combine liquids in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to blend and chill. Strain into chilled martini glass. No garnish called for, but fresh orange twist would be aromatically delightful in this one.

Cynar Breeze

1 ounce Cynar

3 ounces Vodka

1 ounce Grapefruit Juice

Fill highball glass two-thirds full with ice. Add ingredients in order given. Top with ice if needed. Again, no garnish called for, but grapefruit slice would go rather nicely in this refreshing cocktail. I would also decrease vodka to 1-1/2 ounce and increase the grapefruit juice.

Cynar Biere

1 ounce Cynar – chilled

1/3 ounce Lemon Flavored Syrup

Beer

Place chilled Cynar and lemon flavored syrup in pint glass. Top with beer. Stir gently.

Girasole Cocktail

1 ounce Hangar One Mandarin Blossom Vodka

1 ounce Orange Juice

1/2 ounce Premium Orange Liqueur

1/2 ounce Cynar

Orange Slice for Garnish

Combine liquids in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to blend and chill. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with orange slice.

Cynar Cocktail

1 ounce Bianco Vermouth

1 ounce Cynar

Orange Wedge Garnish

Combine liquids in aperitif or cordial glass over fresh ice. Squeeze orange wedge over top. Stir.

Cynar is a product of Campari America.

@CampariAmerica on Twitter – Campari America on Facebook

More recipes on their Cocktail Recipe Database

Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon – str8upcocktails @ gmail.com – ©2013 Cheri Loughlin-The Intoxicologist, All Rights Reserved.