The Ultimate Summer Treat: The Spiked Affogato
I’ve spent decades planning high-end events where every detail has to be “Wow!” So at this point, I think my brain is hard-wired to create a special something for any gathering … even if it’s just meeting friends in the park.
This summer, I spent two weeks in France with my affogato-obsessed mom. And after hearing her order the gelato and espresso treat everywhere we went, I returned to the States with a craving and a question: “Why not spike it?”
It was time to officially make 2026 the summer of affogato-tinis.
The Coffee Liqueur
I remembered my friend Marcio Ramos (cocktail impresario of Honeywell and Hello, Hello Bar!) had recently launched 11th Hour Coffee Liqueur. It has all-natural ingredients, tastes delicious, and the coolest part…it’s made right in Chelsea at Silent Alibi, Manhattan’s only distillery to open since Prohibition. With a bottle of 11th Hour in hand, I was halfway toward the perfect boozy affogato. Now I needed the right gelato…
The Gelato
I called my brother-in-law, who knows everyone, to see if he had any gelato connections. The text came back with a contact card for Corrado Scaffidi, an incredible third-generation gelato chef (and all-around chef!) from Orvieto, Italy.
I spoke with Corrado the next day to ask for the real deal tricks of the trade, but he was not satisfied with giving the tips by phone. He said I must go to his shop so he could teach me. Off I went to La Gelateria di Eataly by Patrizia Pasqualetti at New York City’s Eataly.
Carrie and Corrado show off a cone with gelato scoops that are *chefs kiss*
It was a sweltering summer day and busy in the gelateria. Like a true entrepreneur, Corrado was bouncing from the counter to the back room, making everything just so. Once the crowds cleared, he invited me behind the counter to learn the “right” way to scoop.
While scooping seems simple to me, and I did work in an ice cream parlor growing up, I love nothing more than people who are obsessed with their craft. So I learned the Corrado way, which, like every food and beverage technique I've learned from a proud Italian, was simple yet verrry specific.
How to Make an Affogato-tini (Spiked Affogato)
So, just how does the affogato-tini come together?
Grab a bag (I always go for a freezable PackIt tote), toss in your gelato, coffee liqueur, an ice cream scoop, some spoons, napkins, and whatever you choose to serve them in. We used goblet-style cups loaned to us by Corrado, but once, when serving a friend in a pinch, I used a short Crate & Barrel Bodega Glass. You could also reach for a champagne coupe or an ice cream dish. Think: Something you can scoop and sip from.
Once you have your receptacle ready, choose your gelato flavor. According to Corrado, the real Italian way is to use hazelnut. We also tried vanilla and coffee. Personally, I don’t know that I can pick a favorite!
Fill two-thirds of your receptacle with gelato. You want to see the top of the gelato scoop when serving, so our goblets required 2 scoops, while just 1 scoop did the trick with the Bodega Glass.
Fill one-third of the glass with 11th Hour Coffee Liqueur.
My favorite way to enjoy it is to spoon the first few bites and then sip away!
Pro Tip: If you want to chat with your crew, be sure to yap before breaking out the affogato-tinis. As soon as Good Night New York’s Christal Young, Richard Giacovas, and I took our first taste, we couldn’t talk about anything else. In fact, we said little more than “mmmmm.” It’s just that good.
Be sure to check out the full segment.
Ciao for now!
Carrie