The perfect Negroni

Richard Ward said:
Agree a plain London dry gin, but not a high strength one!!
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I take the point, I was really warning against anything overly flavoured but also anything too lily-livered (e.g Gordons post-castration at 37.5%). Most of my preferred gins would probably be in the 41-47% range (the likes of No.3, Tanqueray export, Sipsmith, Cauronn etc.) - I certainly wasn’t advocating for proper high strength (50%) or navy strength, useful as they can be in a G&T.
 
Filippo Nanni said:
Just chippin' in. The 1:1:1 ratio is a modern myth. It is indeed the recommended ration but it is equivalent of tendering the vines and vinify the grapes always in the same way regardless of the vintage. It is an aspiration for those who wants to show the true value of the soil but; let's face it, it never happens.

Depending when you drink AND your bitter/vermouth, you may want to adapt a little the recipe. I am not calling for a 2:1:1 or 4:2:1 ratios but most bar tenders skew the ratio towards gin and vermouth (in this order) and away from bitter. By most bartenders, I mean mixologists around London yet again it depends on the ingredients and time of day. Before dinner you may want to tone down the gin and have more vermouth (unless it is Antica Formula whose vanilla I find overpowering) and in the summer, maybe, add more bitter (tempered by some orange bitters angostura?). In my experience, aromatics of delicate gins (i.e. lightly flavoured vodkas) are lost in a Negroni whatever ratio you use.

Just my 2c.
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I agree about the ratios, Filippo - but remember that Ray is new to this, so (I think) the best approach is to start at 1:1:1 and then deviate according to taste.
 
Oliver Coleman-Green said:
I take the point, I was really warning against anything overly flavoured but also anything too lily-livered (e.g Gordons post-castration at 37.5%). Most of my preferred gins would probably be in the 41-47% range (the likes of No.3, Tanqueray export, Sipsmith, Cauronn etc.) - I certainly wasn’t advocating for proper high strength (50%) or navy strength, useful as they can be in a G&T.
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I think they are absolutely fine if one uses a bit less. Has anyone seen proper full strength Gordon's Yellow Label recently? it seems to have disappeared from European airports.
 
A few things to mention based on my negroni experience;

- Lorne do an excellent coffee negroni as an after dinner cocktail. I’ve tried it at home once but not as good as theirs, which uses coffee liqueur rather than actual coffee
- I tend to do equal 25ml measure of each ingredient. One can always have a second one! I find one suffices.
- I find the vermouth a seasonal thing. I tend to drink martini Rosso in the warmer months and punt e mes in autumn/winter. I think it would be wrong not to try martini out
- I’m not mad on giant ice cubes, smaller ones are much better for the stirring process, which is the most important stage. Small ones impart more chill and dilution. I’ve been served too many negronis with a giant ice cube in room temperature liquid and had to stir it myself.
 
Thom Blach said:
Some excellent advice in this thread. It should always be remembered that the most important ingredient in any mixed drink is pedantry.
I think even more than I did a couple of years ago that the Americano is a better and more refreshing drink, the alcohol in the gin somehow makes the Negroni too heavy for aperitif purposes-though the use of dry white vermouth, to make a Cardinale rather than a Negroni, really is an improvement.
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Nothing, but nothing beats an Americano. The choice of vermouth matters though, to chime in with Tom's pedantry vibe.
 
Thom Blach said:
I think they are absolutely fine if one uses a bit less. Has anyone seen proper full strength Gordon's Yellow Label recently? it seems to have disappeared from European airports.
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I have not seen it in a good while, the neutered version now seems ubiquitous in the airports I have travelled through recently. Tanqueray export still seems readily available at full strength (47.3%)
 
Simon Reilly said:
A few things to mention based on my negroni experience;

- Lorne do an excellent coffee negroni as an after dinner cocktail. I’ve tried it at home once but not as good as theirs, which uses coffee liqueur rather than actual coffee
- I tend to do equal 25ml measure of each ingredient. One can always have a second one! I find one suffices.
- I find the vermouth a seasonal thing. I tend to drink martini Rosso in the warmer months and punt e mes in autumn/winter. I think it would be wrong not to try martini out
- I’m not mad on giant ice cubes, smaller ones are much better for the stirring process, which is the most important stage. Small ones impart more chill and dilution. I’ve been served too many negronis with a giant ice cube in room temperature liquid and had to stir it myself.
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As with all 'on the rocks' drinks it needs to be stirred with normal sized ice cubes then strained onto more of them, or onto a large one if one has such a thing.
 
Colin Bradley said:
It’s better still if you omit the vermouth :) . I’m a pleb in this arena, as in so many others, and I enjoy a simple bitters-and-soda for maximum refreshment.
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Campari and soda is a lovely drink Colin, but the Americano is just that bit more complex to my taste. While our son was at university in Milan we hit the apertivo hour really hard when visiting - it's a civilised ceremony and nowhere is it done better than in Milan.
 
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Paul J a i n e s said:
I am a big fan in colder times of replacing gin with mescal
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Good to know-I've got a bottle of Mezcal and I find it very difficult to understand.
Richard Zambuni said:
Campari and soda is a lovely drink Colin, but the Americano is just that bit more complex to my taste. While our son was at university in Milan we hit the apertivo hour really hard when visiting - it's a civilised ceremony and nowhere is done better than in Milan.
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It's just different-and on a hot day a Vermouth and soda with ice and a big slice of orange is a lovely not very boozy aperitif.
 
It's the huge, 80% glass-filling chunk of diamond-like ice that gets me. Negroni is basically my only cocktail and the one served in our local is elevated several notches by the ice. I know you need distilled water and some sort of mould, but I am lacking that last double helix of geek gene to seek them out for Negronis made at home.
 
Edward Bolland said:
What is the USP of Richard Brendon? Not something that has previously entered my consciousness. I’m fearful that there are yet me things out there that I never knew I needed!
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They do absolutely exquisite heavy cut crystal glassware for cocktails and decanters. You can see them in Hedonism if you are in the shop.

Usually run at c£100 a glass but do an outlet offer a few times a year for seconds and end of line ranges.

Also make the Jancis universal glass which features widely in various wine bars and is very nice. Last year they did an offer on their seconds of these that was absurdly cheap, the outlet has repriced these now but if you wait there are escalating discounts. EXTRA30 gives you 30% off what’s available now.
 
Tom Cannavan said:
It's the huge, 80% glass-filling chunk of diamond-like ice that gets me. Negroni is basically my only cocktail and the one served in our local is elevated several notches by the ice. I know you need distilled water and some sort of mould, but I am lacking that last double helix of geek gene to seek them out for Negronis made at home.
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Tom, all you need to do is have a method of directional freezing and you can use humble tap water. An insulated travel mug can work (I struggled to get the ice out when I tried) but a small insulated picnic cooler is the method Oliver refers to above. Essentially the impurities freeze first at the top of the insulated vessel, and the ice beneath is perfectly clear. You have to be careful when handling it as is prone to cracking

 
Oliver Coleman-Green said:
I take the point, I was really warning against anything overly flavoured but also anything too lily-livered (e.g Gordons post-castration at 37.5%). Most of my preferred gins would probably be in the 41-47% range (the likes of No.3, Tanqueray export, Sipsmith, Cauronn etc.) - I certainly wasn’t advocating for proper high strength (50%) or navy strength, useful as they can be in a G&T.
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I agree with everything you write, but would add Plymouth and Jensen to the list of gins that make a good Negroni.
 
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