Good Libations: Balsamic Mixology with Our In-House Expert

Posted by Olivia on Fri, March 22, 2013

We use olive oil and balsamic vinegar in just about all of our recipes, including our cocktails! It’s true—you can make awesomely inspired drinks using our various olive oils and balsamics. Too good to be true, you wonder? Read on to learn how with tips from our staff Master Mixologist Rebecca!

Though you may only see such cocktails at fancy artisanal bars, you can make olive oil and balsamic libations right in your own kitchen. And just think how much you’ll impress your dinner guests with your creative concoctions! All it takes is a main drink base and a few olive oils and balsamics to experiment with.

For starters, settle on your drink base. If you’re going for a 21-and-up cocktail, try Prosecco for a sweet bubbly brew, or club soda with your favorite liquor. For a non-alcoholic version, simply skip the liquor and use a base of club soda, tonic water, lemonade, or a carbonated beverage of choice.

Next up, the fun part: adding olive oil and balsamic vinegar! Don’t worry, you’re not whisking up a salad dressing here, you’re only adding a splash of each to the mix. So there won’t be any greasy oiliness or sharp acidity in the drink. If it’s well-blended, it will be smooth and crisp with a nice bubbly pop from your drink base.

Here’s how you do it:

Place about one teaspoon (or more, to taste) of your chosen balsamic vinegar in the bottom of a serving glass. If adding liquor to the drink, pour in about one ounce. Now fill the glass with your drink base of choice. Stir gently to combine. Top with about one teaspoon (again, to taste) of Citrus Olive Oil of choice for a twist on the traditional twist!

Our in-house Master Mixologist Rebecca is an expert on pairing olive oils and balsamics together, and she’ll be leading our “Mixology with Balsamic Vinegars” event this month as part of our Girlfriend’s Getaway Month programming. She says that when experimenting with flavors, reach for any of our fruity Balsamic Vinegars (as they have the sweetest notes to them) and any of our Citrus Olive Oils. Here are just a few of Rebecca’s recommended combinations:

• A splash of Black Cherry Balsamic Vinegar topped with a Lime Olive Oil floater. Try with club soda or lemonade and your favorite silver liquor like vodka, tequila, white rum, or gin.
• A splash of Peach Balsamic with a Clementine Olive Oil floater. Excellent with Prosecco.
• A splash of Fig Balsamic Vinegar with a Limonato Olive Oil floater. Try with a gin or vodka martini.
• A splash of Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar with a Blood Orange Olive Oil floater. Try with a Hefenweizen beer!

And our very own Olive Queen Deborah Rogers recommends:

• A Jalapeno Olive Oil floater on a Bloody Mary.
• A Lime Olive Oil floater on ice cold vodka served in a martini glass.

To learn more about balsamic mixology—and to join the FREE mixology event on March 23—get the full details on our Events page here. Cheers to good libations!