the sluttiest Italian winter drink

wait until espresso martini lovers get a hold of this one [recipes included]

You didn’t go skiing in Italy if you didn’t have a bombardino cocktail. You just didn’t.

me getting wild with my bombardino in Courmayeur, Valle d’Aosta

The panna-painted slopes of the Italian Alps beckon Italians from near and far for a post-holiday winter getaway, a settimana bianca - as if the 2 weeks Christmas holiday wasn’t enough. Because even in Italy January and February can get quite gloomy.

And there’s nothing that turns it up like the bombardino.

The whipped cream-covered yolk-colored drink isn’t the most appealing at first. But, a morning on the slopes, is all you want. The bombardino - eggnog’s Italian alcoholic cousin served short and strong in a glass mug. It was born on the ski slopes of Livigno in the 70s with a simple recipe: a good shot of whiskey (or brandy) and egg liquor. Yes, egg liquor is a thing, think of it as a boozy zabaione in a bottle.

Zabaione has been around since the 15th century in Italy - a luxurious treat of whipped egg yolks, sugar, and dessert wine (often marsala) that the elite classes (*cough cough* Catherine de Medici - a dessert-loving monarch). Zabaione was and still is always, espresso, al minute - made fresh. Until Vov was born, turning zabaione into bottled liqueur.

Vov is a zabaione liquer born out of good ole Italian sustainability in Padova, 1845. Made with a base of sugar, eggs, and marsala, zabaione as a liqeur was considered an energy drink at the time, and Gian Battista Pezziol found it to be the best way to make use of the remaining eggs, sugar, and marsala from his nougat production. Though, what makes this liquere the best is the scandal behind it. Rumors has it that Pezziol actually stole the recipe from pastry chef Teofilo Barla in Torino, who had hired Pezziol’s son and shared the recipe with him. *Gasp*

There’s no better liqueur than Vov on the slopes. Before the bombardino was born, hot Vov was many skiers’ choice in mountain areas - energizing those legs with a protein boost and relaxing the Black Diamond anxiety with a little alcohol. It was basically Italian eggnog on the go, but a better, boozier, milk-free version.

Why haven't we been doing eggnog like this all along? Christmas family fights would be no more. Just give cranky Uncle Joe a good bombardino as he walks through the door and he will forget that politics even exist.

But today, Vov isn’t necessarily the go-to choice. Zabov - a competitor zabaione liqueur by Distillery Moccia in Ferrara - has replaced Vov as the bartender’s choice. It’s sweeter, lower in alcohol, and made with brandy. Some also go for Advocaat - the Dutch egg cream liqueur - though I prefer to stay patriotically in the Italian peninsula.

Still, Vov wines for me. I like things boozier, and I am a slut for fabulous old-school advertisements (Zabov’s are a little creepy to me).

But, here’s the thing - bombardino has a hotter cousin.

Naturally, the bombardino raised a family of cocktails. And one of them (at least to me) outshines even the original.