This New Archie Rose and Messina Collaboration Is a Boozy Riff on Classic Neapolitan Ice Cream
The dessert-inspired spirit series includes a strawberry and pink peppercorn gin, a vanilla and pandan vodka, and a cacao husk and hazelnut whisky.
We all know the fun things that can happen when a nostalgic childhood treat is reimagined for a grown-up audience. And the latest collaboration from gelato masters Messina and Sydney distillery Archie Rose is certainly one of the goodies. The pair has gone and reworked the classic neapolitan ice cream combo into a limited-edition trio of spirits, heavy on the retro-tastic dessert vibes and ready for your spring cocktail sessions.
Available from Monday, September 7, the Neapolitan Set features three 200-millilitre spirit varieties crafted on produce from Messina's own Aussie farms, paying homage to the familiar pink, white and brown scoops that have long graced dinner tables across Australia. There's a strawberry and pink peppercorn gin, a vanilla and pandan vodka, and a chocolate-inspired cacao husk and hazelnut whisky. Archie Rose individually distilled a swag of top-quality ingredients to create each sip and has even come up with some suggested cocktails to put them to good use.
For example, the gin teams locally foraged pink peppercorn and native river mint with juicy strawberries from Messina's farm in Dural, NSW. They say this one works particularly well matched with some of Messina's strawberry sorbet in a blushing riff on the miami vice cocktail. Meanwhile, the collaboration vodka uses fragrant pandan and sustainably sourced Tongan vanilla beans to create a spirit that's the perfect addition to a grasshopper. And the whisky stars roasted hazelnuts from both Italy and the Messina farm in Seymour, Victoria, along with macerated husks from rare cacao beans. Best try that one blended with a scoop of Messina's hazelnut gelato in a creamy toblerone concoction.
While the spirit set will be available to buy online and from select bottle shops, Messina will also be dishing up a supporting act with a limited-edition decorated neapolitan gelato tub up for grabs from September 7. Plus, stay tuned for a virtual neapolitan cocktail masterclass, presented by Messina and Archie Rose on September 25.
Find the Archie Rose x Messina Neapolitan Set ($109) at select bottle shops, the Archie Rose bar and on the Archie Rose website, from September 7.
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