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Bombardino

The ski-hut drink of the Alps: hot Italian egg liqueur with a shot of brandy, under a cap of whipped cream. Born in Livigno and poured in glass mugs after the last run.

6 min · Makes 1

Three parts egg liqueur to one of brandy is the usual proportion, and it keeps the drink rich rather than boozy. The choice that matters is the heat: warm the liqueur until it steams but never let it boil, or the egg thickens and turns grainy. The whipped cream and cinnamon go on last, and you drink it hot, through the cream.

Prep
3 min
Cook
3 min
Serves
1
Difficulty
Easy

Bombardino

Prep 3 min · Cook 3 min · Serves 1 · Difficulty Easy

Method

  1. Warm the egg liqueur gently in a small saucepan, stirring, until it steams but does not boil (the huts use the steam wand of the espresso machine).

  2. Pour the brandy into a heatproof glass mug and add the hot egg liqueur.

  3. Top with the whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon. Drink it hot.

Kitchen notes

The family. With a shot of espresso it becomes a calimero; with rum in place of the brandy, a pirata; with whisky, a scozzese.

The story behind Bombardino

Livigno, high in the Lombard Alps, claims it, and the story told most often is a snowy one: a hut keeper from Genoa, running the Mottolino hut, warmed four skiers in from a blizzard with hot egg liqueur and brandy, and one of them said it was like a little bomb. Another version credits Aldo Del Bò, who ran a ski lift in Livigno, around 1972. Either way the drink went down the mountain with the skiers and now turns up in every ski station in Italy, sometimes with a shot of espresso (a calimero) or with rum instead of brandy (a pirata).

Bombardino

Lombardy

Livigno, high in the Lombard Alps, claims the Bombardino: the story told most often credits the Genoese keeper of the Mottolino hut, another names Aldo Del Bò, who ran a ski lift there, around 1972. It is now a winter fixture at ski resorts across Italy, poured hot after the last run.

The Lombardy guide

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