Ingredients (makes approximately 6 cocktails, with recommended quantities for optimal recipe balance).

400 ml Vodka
200 g Green Nocellara olives
400 ml Marinda tomato extract, obtained with about ten medium-sized tomatoes
65 g Acacia honey
35 ml Mezcal
2 g Salt

Garnish: a crispy tomato skin, salt crystals to taste, a drop of extra virgin olive oil, Nocellara green olive earth and Marinda tomato powder to taste.

For a single cocktail you need: 4 cl vodka, 5 cl tomato extract, 1 cl salted honey syrup and mezcal.

Procedure

Let’s start by vacuum-infusing the vodka with the green Nocellara olives. For the infusion, place the vodka and olives in a vacuum container and let it rest for about 24 hours. The absence of oxygen allows for an infusion without oxidation, preserving the flavors intact and guaranteeing an authentic result.

At the same time, prepare an extract of Marinda tomatoes and filter it through a fine-mesh sieve (or a very fine mesh strainer) to obtain clear tomato water. The transparency of the liquid is an indicator of quality and is directly proportional to the effectiveness of the filtering. Procedure: roughly chop the tomatoes and place them in a juicer. Alternatively, squeeze them manually, trying to extract the juice from every part of the fruit.

Then, in a graduated container (or in a blender glass), combine honey, mezcal and a pinch of salt, to make a cold syrup with a smoky and savory aromatic profile. Cold preparation is recommended to preserve the alcoholic component of mezcal, avoiding evaporation and maintaining its unaltered aromatic intensity.

Pour the cocktail into a low tumbler glass with a chunk of ice and complete the aesthetics by garnishing with the crispy tomato skin, a drop of extra virgin olive oil, tomato powder (obtained by drying the solid part of the extract) Nocellara olive earth (dried and mortar-crushed olives).

Complementary preparations

Crispy tomato skin
Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then immediately immerse them in iced water to stop the cooking. This step makes peeling easier.

Tomato powder
Squeeze the solid part left from the extraction to eliminate excess liquid. Spread it with a spatula on the dehydrator plate (or on a baking tray in a fan oven) and leave it to dry at 60 °C for about 6 hours, until you obtain a fragrant and crunchy wafer. Finely crish it in a mortar or an electric spice grinder, to obtain a fine powder.

Olive earth
Dry the olives following the same procedure as for the tomato powder, but extending the time to 24 hours. Once cooled, crush them in a mortar until they obtain a grainy texture similar to earth.