Photo: David Vaughn
When James Bond wasn't in the mood for his usual Martini, he was sipping Negronis. The Negroni is strong with a pleasant balance of sweet and bitter.
Negroni
Ingredients
1 oz gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
garnish: expressed orange peel
Method
Combine all ingredients in mixing glass with ice. Stir for 30 seconds and strain into rocks glass over large cube.
GLASS: ROCKS
Variations
Boulevardier (In this version bourbon is used in lieu of gin. According to tales it was the signature drink of Alfred Vanderbilt’s nephew, Erskine Gwynne who was an expatriate writer and the editor of The Boulivardier, a French magazine. The renowned bartender Harry MacElhone, previously of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, had also relocated to Paris during prohibition. There he purchased a bar which he renamed Harry’s New York Bar (now one of the most famous bars in the world) which was frequented by famous writers, Gwynne being one of them. He requested the cocktail so often that Harry eventually added it to the menu and named it after his magazine.
Photo: David Vaughn
Boulivardier
Ingredients
1 oz bourbon
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
garnish: expressed orange peel
Method
Combine all ingredients in mixing glass with ice. Stir for 30 seconds and strain into rocks glass over large cube.
GLASS: ROCKS
*Play around with the ingredients! Try subbing mezcal for gin to get a smokey agave flavor. You can use Prosecco in place of gin for a Negroni Sbagliato or perhaps try a dry vermouth instead of sweet. If you don’t have dry vermouth use Lillet or sherry. Replace Campari with its slightly lighter, sweeter cousin Aperol if you want to dial back the bitterness. An herbal Amaro can be fun too!
History
Possibly the most well known story is that this classic was originates in Florence circa 1919. when customer Count Camillo Negroni asked his friend and bartender Forsco Scarselli, to use gin instead of soda in his favorite cocktail, the Americano (Campari, sweet vermouth and soda).
However, like most other cocktails their true origins will never really be known and many lay claim to their creation.
Drinking Cup published an article declaring the Negroni was actually created in Africa by French General Pascal Oliver Comte de Negroni, who fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, introduced the vermouth based cocktail at a party with his friends. According to Negroni family members, they have the documentation to back it up.
We see two recipes in print that are in The Joy of Mixology, both from 1955. One appears in in the U.K.B.G. Guide to Drinks, a UK publication, and the other was Cocktail and Oscar Haimo's Wine Digest out of NYC.