PROSECCO

I’m a little disappointed because I came back from Italy convinced that I had finally found my ideal drink. Firstly, it was cheaper than the Italian wine on the menu, secondly I did not wake up with a hangover and thirdly it was a delight to drink in that heat – light and delicious and it looked the proper part (that is not necessarily the correct order of priorities by the way – maybe hangover avoidance should come first):-

However, in hindsight I’m just not sure it translates quite so well on these shores. On arrival back in London, I was excited to find that it was on sale in Waitrose for £6.99 and so I made the decision to forfeit my children’s food and milk and spend my last pennies on a bottle of prosecco, firmly convinced that this was the way forward. I then took it proudly with me to see some friends explaining my new found adoration of the stuff, but then promptly had to drink it all myself because for some reason they didn’t agree that it worked as well as I thought it would.

I then had to leave earlier than expected because quite frankly it had made me a little more squiffy than I was expecting it to. I also had a headache in the morning AND got cramp in the night – this was because I had completely forgotten the crucial thing – that whilst in Italy, I was sharing a bottle with my children. Funnily enough the Italians are not alcoholics like the British are, so they only pour you half a glass each time they fill up your glass which is one of the most stressful things about being on holiday – especially when you are trying to race your children to the end of the bottle because you’ve paid for it and don’t see why they should be drinking it anyway (now I really sound like my mother) AND what’s more those bloody Italians insisted on putting the bucket and the bottle right next to my son – because he was the male of the family – NOT I assume because they thought for a minute that we were a couple….it was clear that I was paying SO PUT IT NEXT TO ME.

The other drink we also tried out was the bright orange drink everyone seemed to be drinking (mostly the women tbh) – sure they made us glow in the dark – I think they were three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol (Italy’s number one selling spirit and literally DAY-GLO orange) and one part soda water and seemed to be very popular. Seemed to be the answer to lots of people’s problems – not too expensive, not too girly (but quite), quite light and very drinkable.

Still, not my signature drink I feel – I’m not a fan of orange – it’s my least favourite colour and it was a bit too Campari-esque for my liking.

So. Back to the drinking board.

Gin and Tonic. With ice and lemon.

Just not quite right when it’s pissing down in London somehow, but better than a bright orange drink that reminds me of sunshine, that’s for sure.

MAYBE however and this is an interesting thought (and no, funnily enough I’m not going to suggest that I stop drinking) – signature drinks are boring….you need to constantly keep trying new ones to keep your hosts, your children, your friends, your family, yourself, on their toes….and of course it means that if you can’t afford to buy a bottle of wine you can raid whatever shit you might have at the back of the cupboard and create something different…

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook