Virgin Bellini
White peach and soda - Harry's Bar without the prosecco.
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 600 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 600 ml line. Peach purée - White peaches if you can get them - the drink is named for their colour
- 60 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) of a standard jigger, plus two teaspoons. Lemon juice - A few drops, no more, or the peach disappears
- 1200 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 1200 ml line. Soda water - Ice cold, and added at the last second
- 12 slices Peach (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Put the peach purée in a flute, then top slowly with cold soda.
Method
Batch (12 drinks)Batch (12 drinks) - about 1.86 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Spoon the peach purée into the bottom of a chilled flute and add the lemon juice.
- Top up slowly with very cold soda water, stirring gently as you go so the purée mixes rather than sits.
- Add a thin slice of peach to the glass.
- Serve immediately, while there is still fizz on the surface.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Virgin Bellini
Giuseppe Cipriani invented the Bellini at Harry's Bar in Venice in the 1940s, using white peaches from a garden near Verona and prosecco. Venice also gave the world a long tradition of drinking the fruit without the wine, and a Bellini with soda instead is not a poor relation - it is the peach, presented properly, with bubbles to carry it.
Getting it right
The peach is doing all the work, so use ripe ones and purée them a la minute; a purée that has been sitting in the fridge for two days tastes dull and slightly metallic. White peaches are worth chasing, though a ripe yellow one is better than an unripe white one. The lemon juice is a few drops - it wakes the peach up, and any more turns the drink into an odd lemonade. Mix it in the glass, gently, and drink it within a minute or two.
Tasting notes
Soft, perfumed peach with a clean soda finish and just enough acidity to keep it from being a dessert. It looks like a Bellini, which is half of what people want from one.