Negroni

Hailing from Italy and making its way to the flutes of cocktail enthusiasts all over the world, the Negroni is an iconic drink widely popular as an aperitif and hailed for bearing the essence of Renaissance romanticism to the modern day. Made of gin, sweet vermouth, Campari bitters, and an orange slice, this illustrated red cocktail is traditionally stirred, not shaken, and served over ice in classic rock glasses. A quintessential part of the drink is its customary garnish of an orange slice, which has however been replaced with an orange peel in most modern recreations.

Legend has it that the Negroni was inspired from the Milano-Torino, invented at Caffe Camparino in Milan in the 1860s. Being supremely popular among Americans who preferred it with a splash of soda water, the cocktail got its alias of the Americano. As for Negroni, the drink is believed to have originated at Caffe Cassoni in Florence in 1919. The story goes that Count Camillo Negroni of London was an avid traveller and a known connoisseur of the Americano. Negroni requested Forsco Scarselli, his friend and bartender at Caffe Cassoni, to enhance his favourite Americano and serve him something exquisite. Scarselli replaced the soda water of classic Americano with gin and its conventional lemon garnish with a slice of orange. On that fateful night in Florence, not only was a legendary drink born, but Scarselli etched his name in gold as one of the most gifted mixologists to have ever lived.

The cocktail quickly picked up popularity and soon people from all over were flocking to Scarselli’s counter to have their taste of the new cosmopolitan revolution. Seeing the overwhelming response, the Count’s family decided to establish the Negroni Distillery in Treviso and prepared the Antico Negroni, an off-the-shelf rendition of the iconic cocktail, popular in sales to this day.

Known for its orange bitterness, note of sweetness, and floral undertones, this exotic drink has undergone numerous modifications and recreations in the last century. For instance, the Large-Batch Negroni Sbagliato employs the ageing of the cocktail to boost the sour-sweet punch. Then there is the White Negroni, made by replacing Campari with Suze. We also have the Bermuda Hundred, which is a further amalgamation of the Negroni and the Mai Tai, and the Contessa, which uses orange Aperol instead of Campari to bolster the sweet notes.