A Negroni's timelessness is its real strength. The drink is never really in vogue (in the same way a spritz has been, for example) and never really falls out of fashion; it’s a reliable staple that will always work. Medicinal and bitter but luxuriously sweet, boozy and stout enough for winter but crisp enough for the sunshine, it can be enjoyed year-round with ease.
What’s more, it’s a simple drink to make from just a few ingredients, requiring no special technique or equipment, yet the taste is more than the sum of its parts. The drink’s image is hard to pin down too; it’s as at home on the riviera as it is in the city, and is both a throwback classic and a refined, urbane choice. It’s hard to think of many other drinks that cover as much ground. As such, we’re huge fans of the Negroni at Hidden Curiosities. The drink has enough going on to be complex, but the flavours tend to work to enhance the botanical elements of the gin in the glass. There is, frankly, almost nothing it can’t do, and we can scarcely imagine life without it. But where did it come from?
A Brief History of the Negroni
One of the elder statesmen of the cocktail cabinet, the Negroni owes its most likely origins to the 20th century and, appropriately, to Italy. A Negroni bears a striking similarity to a couple of earlier concoctions; the Milano-Torino and the Americano. A MiTo is a simple drink, being half Campari (from Milan) and half sweet vermouth (from Turin). This is usually served in a rocks glass over plenty of ice, and tends to be garnished with a slice of orange. The Americano consists of the same two ingredients, topped up with soda water to make a longer and more refreshing drink.
From here the lineage of the Negroni seems to be pretty direct - all it needed was someone to fortify it. Supposedly, this person was Count Camillo Negroni, who in 1919 requested that the soda in his Americano be replaced with gin at the Caffè Casoni in Florence. It’s usually wise to question such clear-cut origin stories, and there have been suggestions that Negroni may not have been a count at all, that he was an American, and even that he was formerly a cowboy in the West. Whoever he was, he (or his bartender, Fosco Scarselli) seemed to have a good nose for cocktails.
More generally and despite its firmly Italian origins, the drink is very similar to other gin cocktails popular in Europe at the time, especially in France, where gin was very much in fashion. Around the same time, recipes specifying Campari and Italian vermouths would appear in French cocktail recipe books, so it may be that the Negroni was just codifying common practices of the time. Regardless, this is the one that lasted.
The Golden Ratio
A traditional Negroni is strictly equal parts gin, vermouth and bitters. It absolutely has to be served over ice, and is usually garnished with a twist or slice of orange. Variations abound, but this is the baseline and without this, you’re holding nothing. 35ml of each is usually considered standard, 25ml being a little on the mean side. You can of course go higher, and we’ve seen 50ml regularly, though this makes for a very strong drink. Any higher than this, and we feel that the alcohol starts to take over; a Negroni is a strong drink anyway, so a little restraint goes a long way.
The Gin
A good quality London Dry would be our preferred foundation, to make the cocktail stand solid. For obvious reasons, we wouldn’t deviate from our own Hidden Curiosities London Dry, with its black pepper and citrus overtones fortified with a robust skeleton of juniper. As a twist on the formula, our Aranami Strength gin. with its uniquely sherbety finish and exotic botanicals, also makes for an outstanding Negroni. If going down this route, it may be wise to exercise restraint in your measures and proportions when concocting your drink, owing to this particular gin's deceptive strength.
Whilst our gin is quite literally perfect for a Negroni, we reluctantly concede that other gins are available; Beefeater would be an adequate substitute if you had to, or perhaps something clean like Roku gin if you were feeling fancy.
The Bitters
Traditionally, Campari is specified and has no adequate replacement in a straight-up Negroni. However, if you’re experimenting with alternatives, there are several other excellent bitters that equal (even, perhaps, exceed) Campari’s unique flavour profile. Amaro is one of our favourites- though this is more accurately known as a “Montenegroni” - with Asterley Bros making an excellent one here in the UK. To tone down the alcohol, Aperol is an acceptable substitute too, though its lighter, sweeter profile will not have quite the same punch.
The Vermouth
When choosing your vermouth, you have three adjectives to bear in mind; red, sweet, and Italian. Owing to these descriptors, Martini Rosso is often the default, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it for the purpose. However, vermouth is a rich world and there are plenty of excellent alternatives too. Cinzano and Carpano are commonly used alternatives, and Antica Formula and Cocchi di Torino might actually be our own personal favourites. Another highlight of ours is the Mancino Sakura Vermouth (as featured in our Curious Cocktail Sakura Negroni - pictured above), which has an incredible cherry blossom flavour. You can of course use a vermouth from another country if you have it, though an Italian one brings things full circle in a very satisfying way.
The Serve
The Negroni is not a complex procedure, and can easily be made at home. You’ll need a heavy tumbler or rocks glass, preferably made of cut glass, with a generous (but not overwhelming) amount of ice. The drink needs to be cold and slightly diluted, but not to the point of being an “iced” drink. This is a boozy and heady concoction, not a beachside refresher. You’ll need to add your trinity and stir gently with the ice, then garnish with a twist of orange. No other garnishes nor straws of any kind, please.
Variations worthy of respect
A Negroni is pretty complete in itself, though that doesn’t mean that there is nothing else that can be done with it. A mezcal Negroni is a thing of beauty, adding smoky, herbaceous notes to the sweet and medicinal overtones of its parent. For example, we use this in our Bonfire Negroni and our Kīlaeua Negroni - inspired by autumn bonfires and Hawaiian volcanoes, respectively, but making the most of the smoky liquor of Mexico.
A White Negroni, whilst sounding like an oxymoron, is also an excellent drink, especially in the summer months. These recipes usually switch out the Campari for gentian liqueur such as Suze, and red vermouth for white (Lillet Blanc is a favourite here). Really, this is an entirely different drink made to similar principles, with the bitter and fragrant herbs remaining at the forefront of the flavour profile. We’d argue this strays too far from a true Negroni to really be one, but is an interesting and delicious variant.
There is also the Negroni Sbagliato (‘mistaken Negroni”) that switches out the gin for prosecco, giving a lighter, easier-going drink that is perfect for the sunshine. For us, mistaken is the word - we’re not huge fans of prosecco anyway, and it is in no way a substitute for gin. In our opinion, you’re better off ordering an Americano…
For one more variant, try replacing some (or all) of the Campari with Fernet, for an entirely different flavour profile that is just as herbaceous. Doing this part of the way is an interesting twist, whilst doing a total swap makes it into a different drink, as here in our Hanky Panky cocktail.
One Cocktail to Rule Them All
When asked which is our favourite cocktail, there are a few contenders - a Martini is hard to beat for example, and a Bloody Mary is perfect once in a while. If we had to choose one though? It would certainly be the Negroni. It's simple, elegant and versatile, easy to make at home but refined enough to order at the most exclusive bars. It has a high-class European image that can be at home on a terrazzo as much as it is in a dimly-lit dive bar. It’s also something of a master discourse, able to absorb other flavours and retain its essence. It’s able to hold its own against old classics and newer pretenders, never once giving way to fads or shifting tastes. It just never goes away, and if you’re not yet a fan, we suggest you persevere - it’ll soon get its claws into you.
If you’re interested in exploring the Negroni, or gin cocktails more generally, have a hunt through our Curious Cocktails for pre-mixed inspiration, or explore our gin pages to discover our award winning gin, providing the base to a whole world of mixology - Negroni or otherwise.
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