This Mesmerizing Garnish Requires No Fancy Tools at All

“The moment we start spinning the cocktail, you can see guests’ expressions change,” says Greta Bazzichi, bartender at Giacosa 1815 in Florence, Italy. 

The drink in question is the Cosmo Negroni, created by Bazzichi’s co-worker William Franci in 2024, which is garnished with mesmerizing swirls.

As with so many modern ideas, the concept behind the garnish was sparked while scrolling social media. On his day off, Franci came across videos from an artist—unfortunately he can’t remember the specific account—making designs by carefully layering dyed sand in a bucket before rapidly spinning it. The result was a spiral effect that Franci thought could work well behind the bar. At Giacosa, he grabbed the first two powders he could find, raspberry and cocoa, and used them on a creamy, sour-style cocktail. “The effect was exactly what I had imagined,” he says.

Franci calls the technique “the dust cosmo.” Creating it is simple: it requires applying straight lines of colored powders directly to the foam of a cocktail before spinning the glass. Centrifugal force fans the powders out into a galactic looking pattern (hence “cosmo,” like the cosmos) across the surface. 

In addition to the Cosmo Negroni (which Giacosa makes with cachaça and a raspberry tonka syrup), the bar uses this trick on one of its nonalcoholic serves, the Rossino. Franci says the garnish works on almost any cocktail or coffee drink with a foam, and it’s easy to experiment with it. But there are a few things that make the method easier to execute. First, the foam needs to be dry and airy, or else the powders will stick in place and won’t be able to freely glide across the drink. Second, you need a level surface, so a Whiskey Sour on the rocks or an iced latte won’t work because the powders won’t spread evenly. “The ice moves with the spin of the liquid,” explains Franci, “disrupting the surface and ruining the pattern.”

The other factor that can vary is the speed of the spin. Franci finds that a smooth, slow turn makes the layered swirl he is looking for, but a smaller glass or more fragile foam may require a slower pace. The faster the spin, the looser the pattern. 

After I posted a video of this simple technique, I heard from bartenders and baristas who were abuzz with ideas about how to translate the design onto their own drinks. In an industry where trends can be so cyclical, the novel trick struck a chord. I can’t wait to see dust cosmos topping cocktails and coffee drinks around the world soon.