As of late it seems the Negroni has caught fire as the cocktail / aperitif of choice amongst discerning drinkers and eaters. Mike Colameco, who hosts a popular NYC restaurant review show on PBS, raves about having a classic Negroni before each of his meals, for example. The appeal of the Negroni (made traditionally with Campari, red vermouth, and gin) is centered on the sophisticated simplicity and balance of the drink elements; in some ways you wouldn’t expect the ingredients to work but they marry together beautifully. The rising popularity of the Negroni is a classic example of Everything Old is New Again as the drink has never really gone away since Count Negroni inspired the aperitif back in 1919.
In our humble view, we love the Negroni (click for our recipe) during both the summer and winter months and enjoy the bitter and sweet components (not to mention that the drink signifies the start of aperitivo or happy hour). We also like how easy it is to make – pour all equal parts into a glass filled with ice, give it a quick stir, strain in a tumbler with ice , garnish with an orange or lemon peel and you’re done. For variations, we like to play with the sweet and bitter elements and replace the sweet vermouth with Punt e Mes or Lillet Rose, the bitter Campari with Aperol or Amaro Nonnino. As a prominent cocktail blog states, “…you can even swap out the gin for bourbon and the cocktail becomes a very Manhattan-esque Boulevardier. Or replace the bourbon with rye, the sweet with dry vermouth and an Old Pal is born”.
Recently, we’ve been omitting the red vermouth and adding Lillet Rose for a slightly less robust fortified wine flavor and have included the recipe below:
- 1 oz Hendrick’s gin
- 1 oz Lillet Rose
- 1 oz Campari
- Mix ingredients with ice (gently) and strain into a glass with a few pieces of ice. Garnish with orange slice (at times we like a slice of lemon as well).
There are countless variations on the standard Negroni and here are a few scraped together from various sources:
The Great Outdoors
1oz Terroir Gin
1oz Salers
.75oz Dolin Blanc
.5oz Cointreau
Orange Twist
Fauxgroni
.75 oz gin
.75 oz gin
.75 oz Campari
.5 oz Carpano
.5 oz lemon juice
Soda
Build in a tall glass (12 oz) over ice. Top with soda. Lemon twist for garnish.
Summer Negroni
1oz Gin
1oz Aperol
1oz Dolin Blanc
Orange Bitters
Orange Twist
Negroni Sbagliato
1oz Prosecco
1oz Campari
1oz Sweet Vermouth
Orange Twist
Aperol Negroni
1 oz gin
1 oz Aperol
1 oz sweet vermouth
Sorella Negroni
1 oz gin
1 oz Aperol
½ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz dry vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
Cornwall Negroni
2 oz gin
½ oz Campari
½ oz Punt e Mes
½ oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
Boulevardier
1 oz bourbon
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
Stir, strain, straight up, cherry
Sorella Negroni
1 oz Gin
1 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Sweet vermouth, Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Dry vermouth
2 ds Orange bitters
Negroni Special
1 oz Old Tom Gin
1 oz Sweet vermouth, Carpano Antica
1 oz Campari
1 twst Orange peel
Right Hand
2 oz Añejo rum
3/4 oz Sweet vermouth
3/4 oz Campari
2 ds Xocolatl Mole bitters
Old Pal
1 ½ oz rye whiskey
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz Campari
Firenze
Created by Sam Treadway from Backbar in Somerville, MA
1.5 oz Bulliet Rye
0.75 oz Campari
0.75 oz Cynar
1 dash Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
Sparkling Ginger Negroni
Avery Bar at the Ritz Carlton in Boston
½ oz Campari
3 oz Nolet Silver Dry Gin
½ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz Canton Ginger Liqueur
Prosecco
Candied Ginger
Add Campari, gin, Canton, and sweet vermouth to a shaker with crushed ice, shake contents and strain into a champagne flute, and float Prosecco on top and garnish with candied ginger.
