Name: Teresa
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Red bitter liqueur; 22.5 ml Crème de cassis; 30 ml Lime juice; 4 drop Saline solution 4:1

Teresa
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Photographed in a Retro Coupe

Ingredients:
2 oz	Strucchi Red Bitter (Campari-style liqueur)
³⁄₄ oz	Joseph Cartron Double Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne
1 oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
4 drop	Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water) optional

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of lime wedge.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with lime wedge.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Previously, I've reduced the lime juice (to 20ml) and upped the cassis (to 30ml) in a quest to make this bittersweet 'n' sour aperitivo a touch more approachable. However, even then, the Teresa remains on the bitter and sour side, so I've reverted to the accepted spec from Gary "gaz" Regan's 2003 The Joy of Mixology.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe by Rafael Ballesteros of Spain, the Teresa came to prominence in Gary "gaz" Regan's 2003 The Joy of Mixology.

TERESA
FAMILY: MILANESE DRINKS
Adapted from a recipe by Rafael Ballesteros of Spain. This drink shows a cocktailian mind at work. Campari, a bitter aperitif from Italy, is often married to fruit juices such as grapefruit juice or orange juice, but Raphael took it a step further and used crème de cassis, a liqueur made from black currants; then he added lime juice to the mix. I'm at a loss to fathom how this dedicated cocktailian put these flavours in his head, but the result drink is a complex marvel.
2 ounces Campari
¾ ounce crème de cassis
1 ounce fresh lime juice
SHAKE AND STRAIN into chilled cocktail glass.
Gary Regan, 2003

Nutrition:

One serving of Teresa contains 207 calories

Alcohol content:

1 standard drinks
12.59% alc./vol. (12.59° proof)
14.2 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
More Bittersweet (e.g. Negroni) cocktails

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 7 comments for Teresa.
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Arttu Vilkkinen

14th March at 19:18

This is surprisingly good if you top it with sparkling wine (prosecco).
Royal Teresa if you will.

Josh Lundquist

11th August 2024 at 16:56

I "made up" a drink like this when I was a bartender in Tokyo with no idea what I was doing. Mine was a highball that added Zubrowka and soda. For how young I was, I think it was pretty sophisticated.

Nikolaj Thøgersen

20th July 2024 at 19:24

I found it improved drastically after adding a few drops of saline solution.

Simon Difford

21st July 2024 at 13:25

Saline is a great call. I've added above.

David Bell

18th May 2024 at 07:11

Blimey! That's a taste. Not sure if I particularly like this, but I'll persevere!

Emily Tucker

25th August 2023 at 03:17

Really lovely. Not sure how much lime juice I put in (half a lime, but the scale stayed a 0.0oz) but it's the perfect blend of fruitiness on the tongue and bitterness on the nose. Rubbed some lime on the rim for an extra touch of tartness and it was delightfully classy and semi-sweet.

Jeremy Harrold

9th June 2022 at 06:33

I like up to a point Campari but this one looked a bit daunting so I tried a version by Richard Godwin which used 25ml of both Campari and Lime juice, 10 of Cassis but added 25 of Vodka. It was very nice. A touch tart, bitter but with just a hint of fruit. Possibly should be called a different name but I do not know when ‘adapted’ goes too far…

Simon Difford

9th June 2022 at 08:04

I think it's ok to very the proportions (I'll experiment) but adding vodka turns this into a different cocktail that requires renaming. As you say, "goes too far..."

Letícia S

20th November 2021 at 17:36

Nice mix between bitter and sweet

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