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What Is A Negroni?
So, is a Negroni a cocktail I order to make it look like I know what I’m asking for when ordering a drink at a cocktail bar?
Well frankly, the answer to this is yes, but it’s not the only reason you would order one of the most famous cocktails in the world.
It’s classic taste and the fact it’s hard to screw up making it has made the Negroni relevant for over 100 years.
Made with equal measures of Gin, Campari and Vermouth, the Negroni is classed as an apéritif, but people all over the world enjoy this famous cocktail at any (socially acceptable..that’s up to you) time of the day.
Created to be sipped, the Negroni is a well-balanced concoction which has really stood the test of time.
1) Classic Negroni
INGREDIENTS
25ml Gin
25ml Campari
25ml Sweet Vermouth
HOW TO MAKE
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add all ingredients. Stir five times to enable dilution.
GARNISH
Dehydrated Orange Wheel
HISTORY
The Negroni has had a major renaissance over the last few years and is one of the most talked about cocktails in popular culture. Not bad for a three ingredient, built cocktail from the early 1900’s.
The Negroni is one of the greatest examples of playing simple but getting incredibly complex results. The flavour profile is one that is sweet and refreshing but with a robust bitter undertone and is the perfect tonic for a summer afternoon, watching the world go by in an Italian café.
So the legend tells of a mysterious Florentine, Count Camillo Negroni, who in 1919 happened across the recipe for the Negroni cocktail. Based on another age old classic – The Americano – whose ingredients are very similar to the Negroni cocktail, made up of Campari, sweet vermouth and soda water (instead of gin).
It is said, Count Camillo asked his usual bartender at the Cassoni Café on the Via de’Tornabuoni to stiffen his Americano by replacing the soda with gin. The bartender, Fosco Scarselli, also took it upon himself to replace the lemon with orange and the Negroni was born.
2) Sailors Negroni
INGREDIENTS
1 oz Campari
1 oz Vermouth
0.5 oz Coffee Liqueur
0.5 oz Mezcal
HOW TO MAKE
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with fresh ice to chill. Strain over fresh ice, then garnish and serve.
GARNISH
Garnish with lemon slice
3) Americano
One of the old guard of this list – the Americano was created in the 1860s at Gaspare’s Campari’s bar in Milan, Italy. It was pushed into popular culture by that man James Bond again after he ordered it in the novel Casino Royale. Considered the father of the Negroni, the Americano is a blend of Campari, sweet vermouth and soda.
Americano Cocktail Recipe
45ml Campari
45ml Sweet Vermouth
Top Soda
Garnish: Orange Wedge
4) Aperol Spritz
Aperol Spritz Cocktail Recipe
30ml Aperol
60ml Prosecco
30ml Soda Water
Garnish: Orange Slice
Variations
Americano – This is where it started from (if you believe Count Negroni’s tale)
The White Negroni – British Mixologist Wayne Collins created this spin on a Negroni, replacing Vermouth and Campari with Lillet Blanc and Suze.
Boulevardier – The same basics of the cocktail, but you simply replace Gin with Whisky. Check out the recipe here.
Agavoni – As per the Boulevardier, the same basics of the cocktail occur, but you replace the Gin with Tequila.
Aperol Spritz – Not necessarily a variation of the Negroni, an Aperol Spritz is a cousin of the Negroni, and has enjoyed a huge upturn in popularity recently.
CHEERS!
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