Cocoa Sbagliato

When American ex-pat bartender Erin Rose opened the Italian restaurant/bar Sorella in Bogotá, Colombia, her approach was to create a menu featuring what she refers to as “aperitivo tropical,” that is, aperitivi (cocktails such as negronis and americanos) with native South American flourishes. “I was looking to use local products from Colombia and also highlight that many amari and fortified wines in general that we think of as ‘European’ wouldn’t exist without ingredients taken from South America,” says Rose. She lists “cochinilla that was Campari’s colorant until the early 2000s, the cascarilla bark still featured in various amari, including Campari [now], and the cinchona bark, native to the Andes, which of course gave rise to a whole class of kinas, such as Lillet and Dubonnet, as well as tonic water.” In this vein, her signature 2019 Cacao Sbagliato for Sorella has become a Colombian modern classic.

Although sbagliato is Italian for “mistake,” Rose’s take on the sparkling aperitivo—traditionally prepared with sweet vermouth, Campari, and Prosecco—has very deliberate intentions with its use of vanilla and cacao nibs. “The vermouths available in Colombia are limited and I wanted to re-create the chocolate and vanilla notes of vermouths I had loved in other countries, like Carpano Antica, using ingredients from here,” Rose explains. She mentions that Colombia has 23 different native species of vanilla and various species of ancestral cacaos. “Sbagliato was a way to support local producers cultivating cacao and vanilla while still staying in a traditionally Italian cocktail profile to assure a good fit with the food.”

Rose says she prefers to treat the Sbagliato like the “hip cousin to the spritz,” served in a wine glass with a splash of soda.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Signature Cocktails' by Amanda Schuster. Buy the full book on Amazon.