« Day-Glo Orange Means CRAZY! | Main | Fleshmap: Studies of Desire »
Campari and Negroni
By matt | August 26, 2008
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Campari for Negroni
My summer drink of 2008 has been the Negroni.
It’s a simple little thing made from equal parts Campari, gin and vermouth. If, like me, you tend to mix them shot-to-shot-to-shot, it’s a great way to get all your drinking done at once.
One thing to know: don’t skimp on the vermouth. If you short the vermouth, you lose some complexity to the drink. The gin winds up “watering down” the Campari. The vermouth brings the tastes back into alignment.
My habit is to make a Negroni and sip it, keeping a glass of water on the side. I think this is similar to the spirit of the Americano but I don’t keep soda water around, so it’s a sidecar of H2O instead.
Warning!
There are three complications to this drink that you may or may not suffer.
First, (too many) bars serve this garnished with a maraschino cherry. It should be garnished with something from the citrus family. I like it with a bit of orange as that’s a good tart-sweet counter to the bitter taste that this drink carries. The cherry is too sappy-sweet for the mix.
Second, everything used to create it is alcohol. It’s not the most potent from the bar, but it’s going to pack a punch. Don’t be caught off-guard by it’s relatively benign taste. When served over ice, it’s even easier to drink fast…too fast. Careful!
Third, most of my female drinking buddies prefer dark beer over other beverages. When out, they usually get served my drink (garnished with a cherry…jerks!) and I get their beer. I’d say it’s a minor mistake, but dude, that little drink has a bigger punch than the beer. If somebody’s going to handle it, it’s going to be the big guy at the table…
Hands. Off. My. Drink.
Topics: food |
August 26th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
It’s especially good with Hendricks Gin, although since I left my bottle of Campari somewhere, I’ve been forced to mix it with homemade lemonade.
Best part about the Negroni - when friends grab it thinking its a Cosmo and swig… heh heh. I love the look on their faces.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:07 am
I’ve spent some time having a Sidecar as my drink, and often that is delivered all “girled” up. First of all, it gets served in a martini glass which is just inappropriate. Then it can come with a fruit salad on a sword. Man, the martini revolution devolved into the ‘tini revolt and now no one has any sense of history or class.
I’ll have to see if I can find a bartender that knows how tro make a good Negroni. A Taylor Negroni.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Coincidence - I had a Negroni with dinner the day you posted this. It was sublime. I prefer them with a twist of lemon rind on top.
I was first exposed to bitter cocktails, of all places, on a Disney cruise ship. We were in the ship’s fancy restaurant and I told them to send me a drink - whatever they though I’d like. They sent a Negroni. I finished it and ordered another. I’ve never looked back.
There seems to be some kind of Classic Cocktails comeback. Sidecars and Manhattans and all my favorite drinks are becoming available at more bars, which is a good thing.