Font ResizePerhaps the thought also occurred to the Italian families of the Frandinos, the Sperones and their Italian-American counterparts, the Turrini, when they discovered that Veloce, their new joint artisanal Italian spirit, shared its name with a bar in New York City, a potentially large market for their product. The families did the only thing prudently possible - they changed the name to Dimmi, and realized that indeed their product still does smell as sweet.
In Italian "dimmi" means "tell me," and so I posed that very question to Christina Turrini, head of marketing for the Sausalito-based Dimmi Spirits, Inc.
"It happened right when we were getting kick started," Turrini says.
"'Veloce' means swift, fast," explains Turrini. "We (didn't) want to promote drinking," she says. "Dimmi is a beautiful drink that can sipped as an aperitif, it is not a shot," she says.
Dimmi is indeed an intriguing blend. Distilled in the Piedmont region of Italy by the Frandino family from certified organic winter wheat, the spirit undergoes two infusions handled by the Sperone family in Milan. The first is a classic bitter recipe dating to 1932 using Roman wormwood (not the same as the absinthe variety, but the one more often used to make vermouth, which of course, translates to
Dimmi is the brainchild of Stefano Turrini (Christina's older cousin), who coordinated the distillation and arranged the blending by master blender Antonio Sperone (of Caravella Limoncello fame). He claims that the inspiration for Dimmi came to him at Feelings, a famous Italian bar that overlooks Laggo Di Gardo in his hometown of Salo, Italy. "It was there during discussions with the owner that I became inspired with creating a unique Italian liqueur, " he says.
The Turrinis have secured a distribution deal with Domaine Select Merchants and are seeing their sales rise, especially in cocktail meccas such as San Francisco and New York. They credit part of the liqueur's success to its mixing versatility.
"It is a unique Italian spirit that stands on its own but is also great in cocktails," Christina Turrini says.
Dimmi is reminiscent of St. Germaine, a recently introduced elderflower liqueur from France (Dimmi is slightly more bitter), which has risen to prominence among cocktail creators for its adaptability. Many liquor producers are discovering that playing second fiddle in cocktails is not such a bad idea. Consider that a top-shelf margarita can be made with any of a 1,000 premium tequilas, but the other vital ingredient is premium triple sec (such as Cointreau), of which there are perhaps three worth using. Do the math. It is certainly better to be used in a third of all premium margaritas than in one out of a 1,000.
However the Dimmi story is not all about dollars and cents, distribution or versatility.
"It really all about family," sums up Christina Turrini, which is something the Montagues and Capulets never did quite figure out.
Dimmi sells for about $35 a bottle retail and is available in inventive cocktails at fine restaurants.
RECIPE
Jeff's Dimmi-nutive apple
2 ounces apple-infused Michter's U.S. 1 straight rye whiskey (see note)
1/2 ounce Dimmi liqueur
Lemon twist
Miniature apple or apple ball made with melon baller
Combine first two ingredients and stir (Manhattans should never be shaken). Set aside to chill. Twist lemon peel over chilled cocktail glass to express oils. Run twist, color side down, around the rim of the glass and discard. Strain whisky mixture into glass and garnish with apple. Sip whilst quoting Shakespeare and questioning the grammatical correctness of "dimminutive" or, while chuckling adolescently about the word "baller" - your choice.
Note: Core and cut up seasonal apples. In a clean jar soak apple flesh in whiskey for two days. Strain through cheesecloth, discard apples and refrigerate. Will keep for about a week.
Jeff Burkhart is an award-winning bartender at a Marin bar/restaurant and an author. His columns appear weekly in Here. Contact him at jeffb@thebarflyonline.com.
