The perfect Negroni

This thread having stimulated me I am now enjoying a Cardinale made with equal parts Plymouth navy strength, Noilly Prat and Carpano botanic bitters. It's really good, delicately aromatic and not very sweet at all. The Boulevardier, made with Bourbon instead of gin, is also excellent.
In the end though it seems to me that the most civilised and urbane of these drinks remains the original Americano, at least on those occasions when one doesn't require an alcoholic biff.
 
In the end though it seems to me that the most civilised and urbane of these drinks remains the original Americano, at least on those occasions when one doesn't require an alcoholic biff.
I'm looking forward to more than my fair share of Americanos later this month when we visit our son in Milan where he is at university. The Milanese do l'ora del aperitivo truly well. MAG bar, and the bar around the corner from Il Solferino here we come...
 
Obvs personal but, chez CB, a pre dinner negroni has the tiniest overpour of blood orange juice (in season freshly squeezed great, but if not Waitrose) ideally with a slice of dried blood orange. Just find it takes the spirit heat out of it.... Fully agree on the chilled ingredients / large ice-cube!
 
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Obvs personal but, chez CB, a pre dinner negroni, has the tiniest overpour of blood orange juice (in season freshly squeezed great, but if not Waitrose) ideally with a slice of dried blood orange. Just find it takes the spirit heat out of it.... Fully agree on the chilled ingredients / large ice-cube!
Blood oranges are very seasonal over here but should appear in December for a month or so. I look forward to trying this.
 
There are a plethora of Vermouth and bitters in Italy to chose from for a perfect Negroni. Premiumization is very much alive and present into this market. Because Italy is a world leader in the field and thanks to lockdown I went at great lenghts in exploring the right combination/brand (for my own taste) for a Negroni.

I would suggest to start with whatever is from Del Professore aka Antica Distilleria Quaglia. They are classic and very refined (clearly a notch above Antica Formula which was the first widely spread premium vermouth). Another go-to for me are the liquors from Vecchio Magazzino Doganale. They are more rustic and they are from Calabria.

Another Vermouth in the Torino style but not so sweet or with less vanilla is Mulassano. It normally makes sense to pair bitter and vermouth from the same brand. Another delightful couple is from Val d'Aosta (clearly more herbal): La Valdotaine.

There are many others but this is a good start.

(I tend to use light to neutral gin in the vein of infused vodkas such as No 10. However No.3 is hard to beat. A mixing glass and a julep strainer, large ice cubes, along with orange in some form are all essentials)
 
Possibly because they are designed to be drunk in their own right rather than mixed? I may be wrong but I don't think Negronis and Americanos have any Spanish equivalent and nor do they seem popular.
 
I appreciate that this is somewhere between cheating and heresy in such august company, but I have really enjoyed this coffee-infused Negroni from Myatts Fields Cocktails (somewhere sarf of the river I believe). Would be a complete arse to get right making it from scratch (though no doubt an enjoyable process).

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Obvs personal but, chez CB, a pre dinner negroni has the tiniest overpour of blood orange juice (in season freshly squeezed great, but if not Waitrose) ideally with a slice of dried blood orange. Just find it takes the spirit heat out of it.... Fully agree on the chilled ingredients / large ice-cube!
We slice oranges, put them in freezer (separated on baking paper to avoid a mush) and thence have an orange/ice hybrid for Negroni usage. Still need the ice of course.
 
My favourite!!

Negroni Sbagliato ( wrong) :

25ml Campari
25ml sweet vermouth
Dry sparkling wine to top up
ice

Garnish : Orange
Unquestionably the very best use of prosecco, by some considerable distance!
I hope my appetite for the Negroni, and indeed other mixed drinks, returns swiftly. It has entirely disappeared, which makes me worry that I am unwell though there are no other manifestations.
 
Unquestionably the very best use of prosecco, by some considerable distance!
I hope my appetite for the Negroni, and indeed other mixed drinks, returns swiftly. It has entirely disappeared, which makes me worry that I am unwell though there are no other manifestations.

Dear Thom,
Let's see if this variant will help return your appetite for Negroni. :p


Between 1917 and 1920, it all starts from the Caffè Casoni in Via de' Tornabuoni 83, in a lively and cosmopolitan Florence.
Count Negroni asked Fosco Scarselli, Caffè Casoni's barman, to beef up his "Milano-Torino" (red vermouth and bitter better known as Americano, in honour of boxer Primo Carnera) with gin.

To the "new" Americano, the count had a half slice of orange added, so as not to confuse his aperitif with that of other patrons of the café.

From this fusion (1/3 red vermouth - 1/3 bitter - 1/3 gin and a half slice of orange) was born what was christened "the Americano in the manner of Count Negroni" later simplified to "Negroni."
The present speaks of NEGRONI SVEGLIATO, a reinterpretation, or twist of the original recipe.

The variation consists of a coffee vermouth infusion (I used Lavazza Miscela Rossa).

This version speaks of Italian traditionalism, and of what is an unquestioned habit of so many Italians, coffee time.

Coffee is an elusive moment at times, as at times, a moment of sharing, I love this versatility, which does not focus exclusively on aromaticity but says so much more.


NEGRONI SVEGLIATO is the aperitif or it is simple after dinner.

30 ml Gin

20 ml Bitter

30 ml Coffee infused vermouth.

Technique : Throwing, mix all ingredients, chilling them well (oxygenating)

Presentation: Mocha and coffee or a Cappuccino cup.
 
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