Best Neighborhood Negroni Recipe

Best Neighborhood Negroni Recipe

It's challenging to think of a cocktail as iconic to the Cocktail Renaissance in the late 1990s as the Negroni cocktail was. The Negroni became almost synonymous with the craft cocktail movement for its simplicity. How do you make a Negroni? Well, the Negroni ingredients are simply Gin, Vermouth, and Campari in equal measures. The Negroni's iconic crimson hue and its bittersweet flavors make it a drinker's favorite. The Negroni cocktail grew so popular that Campari, the brand behind one of the Negroni's key ingredients (The Red Passion), even launched the yearly Negroni Week. Negroni Week is an international fundraiser. Each year Negroni Week sees thousands of bars across the globe featuring their own variations on the Negroni. A portion of the Negroni profits goes to selected charities.

In Italy, the Negroni cocktail is just a drink that has been popular for over a century. Order a Negroni in a bar anywhere in Milan, Italy, and you'll likely receive a huge glass of ice with all three Negroni ingredients quickly poured in, served, and garnished with an orange peel. In Italy, there is no fuss, and they usually keep it simple with no variations to the classic Negroni recipe.

One of the main points of the Negroni cocktail is that the drink should be served like it across cafes in Italy, which is over a large amount of ice. For many Negroni fans, the ice is almost like the fourth key ingredient. Having the ice in the Negroni transforms the taste of the drink as the ice slowly melts. As the ice melts, a mellowing of the drink's normally acerbic and bracing properties occurs. In contrast to the changing taste of the Negroni when filled with a large amount of ice, some bartenders prefer to serve it up without the ice. Serving a Negroni without ice was coined the Neighborhood Negroni and was created by the famous bartender and now author Tony Abou-Ganim.

Modifying the Negroni recipe to remove ice might seem like a small, insignificant change to some, but it has a noticeable impact on the flavor of the Negroni cocktail. When a Negroni is served up in a chilled glass, then it allows the bartender to control the exact amount of dilution Negroni has over time. If a drinker sits with a Negroni filled with ice, then over time, up until the ice melts, it will go through several different tastes as it gets watered down. Some Negroni fans might say that there's a strong visual appeal for the more traditional Italian style of serving it on the rocks. Some people might even think that serving a Negroni on ice in a lovely glass might just be better for Instagram (considering the drinks one million tags).

In his Negroni recipe, Abou-Ganim calls for Junipero gin, Martini and Rossi sweet vermouth and, of course, the bright red Campari. Each ingredient is poured in equal amounts as per the Negroni cocktails classic ratio. A relatively high alcohol Gin, Junipero comes from San Francisco, one of the capitals of the Cocktail Renaissance. Bold and very juniper forward, it makes for a potent and assertive Negroni, even when diluted over ice and served up.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce Junipero gin
• 1 ounce Campari
• 1 ounce Martini and Rossi sweet vermouth
• Garnish: orange wheel

Instructions

1. Add all of the Negroni ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir until well chilled.
2. Strain the drink into a chilled stemware glass with no ice.
3. Garnish with an orange wheel and serve.

If you are looking for more Negroni recipes to try out then check out some of the other Negroni cocktail recipes below.

Classic Negroni

Mezcal Negroni

Negroni Sbagliato

White Negroni

Dutch Negroni

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