Negroni Cocktail

I love things that have a little history behind them.  I also love a great cocktail.  The Negroni is one such drink.  It’s like La Dolce Vita in a glass so to speak. The origins of this cocktail hail from Florence, Italy, at a cafe in the early 1900’s.  A Count Camillo Negroni, is thought to have invented the drink by strengthening the Americano (Campari and sparkling water), with Gin instead.   The bartender distinguished the two drinks by adding orange instead of lemon garnish to show that it was a different beverage.  The cocktail was so successful that the Negroni family founded a distillery in Treviso, Italy and bottled ready made versions, and sold it as Antico Negroni 1919.  Over the years that followed, there have been many alterations, but it is the original that stands strong.

It turns out that a descendant of General Pascal Olivier de Negroni, the Count de Negroni, claimed that he was in fact the original Count Negroni who invented the drink in Senegal much earlier in 1857.  That too can be debated because Campari was not invented until 1860, and this drink is 1/3 Campari.

There is even a book on the subject of the Negroni titled Sulle tracce del conte-La Vera storia del Cocktail “Negroni” (On the trail of the Count, the true story of the Negroni cocktail).

You my friends can ponder that as an interesting anecdote while enjoying a Negroni on a lovely afternoon or as an evening apperitivo.  Ciao!

Assemble everything on the bar top: Campari, Cinzano Red Sweet Vermouth, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Bitters, Blood oranges, and 2 Cocktail glasses.

Fill the glasses with ice cubes.

Then slice the Blood oranges.  Any oranges will do, just use sweet, fresh ones, the juicier, the better.

Next, add 1 – 1 ½ ounces of Campari.

Add 1 – 1 ½ ounces of Bombay Sapphire Gin ( any good quality Gin will suffice)

Now, add the final third,  Cinzano Rosso – Sweet Red Vermouth.  1 – 1 ½ ounces to the glass. Any brand of Italian Sweet Red Vermouth will do.

Finally, add four dashes of Angostura Bitters. I prefer two dashes of each the Aromatic Bitters and the Orange Bitters.

Stir and enjoy.

Ciao Ragazzi!