Bar & Beats #04:
Ratafix
mixed by Morris Mau
Welcome back to Bar & Beats, where Italy’s backbars, and backstories meet in a glass, and where half the things we say are true, and the other half should be.
This time we’re cruising through Abruzzo, the land where mountains outrun the sky, grandmas outrun you, and recipes survive because someone’s great-great-aunt insisted on writing them on the back of a prayer card. And that’s exactly where Ratafix was born, our latest stop on this liquid road trip.
Ratafix is what happens when you take Ratafià, Abruzzo’s ruby-red pride made by infusing amarene in Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine, and turn it into something that feels like an alpine breeze wearing a leather jacket. Ratafià has roots deep in local tradition, the kind where people used to seal peace treaties by raising a glass and saying “Pax rata fiat!”, basically the 19th-century equivalent of “we cool?” Well, we took that same spirit and gave it a kick.
The Recipe:
Serve in: a pre-chilled Collins glass
Ingredients:
• 30 g Ratafià caviar
• 120 ml seltzer
• Almond & dark chocolate foam
Preparation:
Select and pre-chill a Collins glass.
Prepare the Ratafià caviar (see below).
How to make the foam:
Blend almond paste and dark chocolate, then add egg white, almond milk, and sugar. Transfer everything into a siphon to create the garnish foam.
How to Make the Ratafià Caviar
Ingredients & Tools
For the Ratafià caviar:
• 100 ml Ratafià
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1.5 g agar agar (one small packet)
• 400 ml seed oil (sunflower or another neutral oil)
Tools:
• A small pot or microwave-safe container
• A pastry syringe (without needle) or a squeeze bottle with a thin spout
• A tall, narrow bowl
• A fine mesh strainer
Metod
1. Chill the oil
Pour the seed oil into the tall bowl and place it in the freezer for 15–30 minutes.
The oil must become very cold but not frozen. This thermal shock is essential for solidifying the Ratafià drops.
2. Prepare the liquid
In a small pot, gently heat the Ratafià.
Add the sugar and agar agar, stirring well to avoid lumps.
3. Cook the mixture
Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for about 2–3 minutes, stirring continuously.
Let the liquid cool slightly until it reaches around 50°C (122°F).
4. Create the spheres
Draw the warm liquid into the syringe.
Slowly drop small droplets into the cold oil.
As soon as they touch the chilled oil, they will firm up into tiny pearls.
Try to space them out so they don’t stick together.
5. Strain and rinse
Once the pearls are formed, collect them with a fine mesh strainer.
Rinse gently under cold water to remove excess oil, then transfer them onto paper towels to dry.
Food Pairing: Le Sise delle Monache
To match all this cherry-gold electricity, we’re pairing Ratafix with one of Abruzzo’s most mysterious, dramatic, and occasionally misunderstood desserts: Le Sise delle Monache.
Born in the convent of Santa Chiara in Guardiagrele, originally baked for the feast of Saint Agatha (protector of maternal milk), these pastries were later passed down to the Palmerio brothers, who opened the town’s first pastry shop in 1913.
There are legends about the name. Some say the Clarisse nuns added an extra padded bump under their habits to look “less distracting.” But the more sensible theory is that the dessert mirrors Abruzzo’s three great mountains: Gran Sasso, Majella, and Sirente-Velino—the highest backbone of the entire Apennine chain.
Sound Pairing: Orange Combutta – Oka.pi
For the soundtrack, we’re tuning into Orange Combutta, one of the most exciting and forward-thinking emerging collectives around right now. Their album Oka.pi is a shape-shifting blend of electronic textures, new-jazz attitude, soul inflections, and experimental detours. The record feels improvised yet razor-intentional, exactly like a drink that starts sweet, turns herbal, and finishes with a citrus whisper.
Here’s to music that’s alive and in motion. To cocktails born from instinct. To ideas that don’t sit still. And to what’s next, because the journey has only just begun.
* Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and northwest, Molise to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to the east.
Mixologist
Morris Mau, a ten-year successful bartender based in Milan. His career be began at the Dude Club in Milan and then forward to places such as the Bulgari Hotel, the Apophis Club and the Portal Club of the Deus Ex Machina brand.
Morris is a mixology's philanthropist, a romantic visionary, a refined tailor with an alcholic soul, he is the result of a blood cocktail mixed with the Caribbean's sea, Cameroon and the Naples' coast.
Today he's a bar consultant trying to rewrite the definition of hospitality by creating bespoke concepts and unique experiences for his clients.
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