Nothing quite says luxury and decadence more than waltzing around a party with a Bellini in your hand. Think about those uptown dinner parties, soirées with friends and those glamorous weddings—what would they be without the obligatory glass of fizz? A Bellini is a beautiful way to enjoy your glass of prosecco with a little added touch of elegance. In this article, we will help you make the best Bellini in town so that your drinks will be the highlight of your next dinner party. But first, let’s learn a bit more about where the Bellini comes from.
The History of The Bellini
The origin of the Bellini dates back to 1948 and begins its journey in Venice. Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of the iconic Harry’s Bar, was the first person to combine the white peach purée with Italy’s beautiful sparkling wine. Famous for their white peaches, Cipriani took inspiration from the local area by combining one part peach purée with two parts prosecco while he thought about the name.
Legend has it that the settling of the purée in the flute glass reminded Cipriani of the famous 15th Century artist Giovani Bellini, which inspired the name. Before long, the Bellini was the hottest drink in town, and the international guests to Harry’s Bar soon took the recipe home with them, creating a global buzz. The hottest bars in New York, London, and Paris were all serving Bellini’s to trendsetting customers, dying to taste the latest cocktail to come out of Italy.
It wasn’t long until the production of a ready-made Bellini was bottled and sold worldwide in order to promote both the drink and increase the popularity of the incredible sparkling Italian wine that is Prosecco. Ready-to-drink Bellini is still widely available, but if you’d like to make your own at home (and we highly recommend you do), then here are some recipes for you to try.
Bellini Recipes
The Classic Bellini Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 part peach purée (or peach nectar)
- two parts Prosecco
That corresponds to approximately 500ml of peach purée to one bottle of prosecco. The higher the quality of the peach purée, the better the taste and the texture of your Bellini.
How to mix it: The key to a classic Bellini is both the quality of the purée AND the style of the glass. Pour your peach purée into a fluted glass about a third of the way up. Tilting the glass on its side, add your chilled prosecco, straightening up as it fills. Using a fluted glass allows the purée to mix with the prosecco as it is served, which helps create a more even flavour throughout the glass.
Lychee Rose Bellini
Ingredients:
- 100 ml lychee purée
- 200 ml prosecco
- 2 drops of rose water
- 1 tsp clear honey
- 1 drop of pink food colouring
How to make your own one: Mix the lychee purée and honey until completely combined. Add 2 drops of rose water and 1 drop of pink food colouring (this is for aesthetics). Pour the purée mixture into a jug or pitcher and slowly add the chilled prosecco. Decant the drink into flute glasses and serve.
Blueberry Bellini
Ingredients:
- 100g blueberries
- 200ml prosecco
- 50ml water
- 50g sugar
How to make your Bellini: Using a blender, add the sugar and water to the blueberries and blend them into a purée. Add this purée as you would the peach purée for the classic Bellini recipe, and pour in chilled Prosecco.
The beauty and elegance of it are impossible to resist, mainly if you are tweaking the original recipe to surprise your guests. Try your hand at mixing your own one at home and find out just how incredible this Italian classic really is. Make ours a classic Bellini, please!
Read More:
- How to Create the Perfect Whiskey Sour
- London’s Icon of Cocktail Culture – The Espresso Martini
Last Updated on March 16, 2024 by Editorial Team
