Italian Squeeze — The house mocktail for Italy's original alcohol-free red bitter, with orange and tonic

Italian Squeeze

The house mocktail for Italy's original alcohol-free red bitter, with orange and tonic

Number of people

Ingredients

  • 3.4 ozSanbitter
    One 100ml bottle, poured over ice
    Substitute: Another alcohol-free red bitter
  • 1 ozOrange Juice
    Squeezed, not poured from a carton
  • 1 ozTonic Water
    At least this much, on top
    Substitute: Soda water, for less sweetness

Instructions

  1. Fill a tumbler with ice
  2. Pour in one bottle of Sanbitter
  3. Squeeze a fresh orange and add 1 oz of the juice
  4. Top with at least 1 oz tonic water and garnish with a sprig of mint

Technique Notes

Squeeze the orange rather than pouring it. Three centilitres is barely a third of an orange, and bottled juice at that volume tastes of the bottle instead of the fruit, which is the one flavour this drink cannot hide.

Why the Italian Squeeze Works

Sanbitter is bitter orange and herbs with no alcohol to carry them, so the drink needs help from the glass. Fresh orange restores the fruit the bottle only suggests, and tonic adds the quinine bitterness that alcohol would otherwise be lengthening.