The Negroni is one of the most beautiful cocktails, with bold colors of red and orange. Created in Florence, Italy around 1919, the Negroni cocktail was named after Count Camillo Negroni. The Count wanted an Americano cocktail with a little more kick. The Americano recipe was modified by substituting gin for club soda, and lucky for all of us gin lovers, was the birth of the Negroni.
The recipe for the classic Italian cocktail, the Negroni is standardized and set by the International Bartenders Association (the IBA). As an official IBA cocktail recipe. The Negroni you order in Tokyo should taste exactly like the Negroni you would order in London. Basically, no matter where you order it, a Negroni is a Negroni, is a Negroni.
The recipe is simple, equal parts Gin, Campari, and Sweet Vermouth served on the rocks, garnished with an orange peel.
However, there are a gazillion variations on the Negroni Cocktail floating around out there. Although they may be cool and excellent cocktails, once modified the drink is technically no longer a Negroni. This is interesting and a little ironic. The reason for the irony is that the Negroni Cocktail was created by modifying another cocktail standardized by the IBA, the Americano.
Never Shake a Negroni
Gin has an interesting similarity with red wine and aeration. I’ll use this as an example of why never to shake a Negroni cocktail. We are all familiar with the practice of letting red wine ‘breathe’. Decanting red wine, swirling the wine in the glass, and exposing it to oxygen for a short time will soften the flavors. This allows some of the more volatile aromas to escape and release the more pleasant fruit and oak aromas in the wine. However, if allowed to breathe for too long the finer subtle qualities of the wine will not only disappear but eventually, the wine turns into vinegar.
Gin is very similar to red wine in this matter. Shaking gin accelerates the breathing process exponentially.
Gin has a complex mixture of aromas divided into three parts; top notes, middle notes, and base notes. With gin, the most desirable qualities are on the top note. All of the botanicals: juniper, pine, fruit, spice, and floral are top notes. Unfortunately, when gin has been agitated by shaking, the top notes are the first to go. Leaving only the less desirable middle and base notes. Bruising the gin won’t turn it into vinegar, but it will leave the gin dull and lifeless. All of the amazing botanicals that are so desirable lost to the inside of a cocktail shaker.
The Negroni is one of the most beautiful cocktails. The color of the Campari is shockingly red.
Here is the Negroni recipe:
Negroni
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Ounces Gin
- 1 1/2 Ounces Campari
- 1 1/2 Ounces Sweet Vermouth
Garnish
- Orange Twist
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients in an Old-Fashioned glass filled with ice
- Stir briefly
- Garnish with an orange twist
Nutrition
Here is the Americano recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 ½ Ounce Campari
- 1 ½ Ounce Sweet Vermouth
- Splash of Soda Water
- Orange slice and lemon twist as garnish
PROCESS:
-Pour the Campari and Sweet Vermouth over ice in a highball glass
-Add a splash of soda
-Garnish with an orange slice and a lemon twist
