Recipe Round-Up: The Negroni

Unless you're living under a rock (or, you know, not on social media), you probably know that it's Negroni Week! Sponsored by Imbibe and Campari, this is a week-long celebration of what is arguably the cocktail world's favorite drink. Bars around the country serve Negronis and Negroni variations, with proceeds from the drinks going to various charities. I'm only getting in on the tail end of the week, but if you're reading this before June 10th, see what venues are serving Negronis for a good cause near you here.

The Negroni and I have a tumultuous history. When I first tried one, I did not like it at all, and I said as much in my original Negroni post three years ago. In the cocktail world, thinking that Negronis are anything less than amazing is a fairly controversial opinion, but I was prepared to stand by it unless I magically developed a taste for them. And I did. Not magically, exactly; I think it was a combination of buying better sweet vermouth (and storing it properly in the refrigerator) and developing a taste for more bitter drinks in general. Other less polarizing cocktails eased me into the flavors of the Negroni, and before I knew it I was a convert. But I still understand how someone might not enjoy them, especially if they're new to Campari or cocktails in general. So whether you love a classic Negroni or are looking for your gateway drink, I've rounded up some Negroni variations in honor of this iconic equal-parts cocktail.

Assume that all of these should be stirred over ice and strained into a rocks glass over ice (though the last two can also be served in a coupe). Alternatively you can build them in the glass for an even easier cocktail.

Classic Negroni

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth
Orange twist

The original: easy to remember, easy to make, and always great. Opinions will differ on the best gin and sweet vermouth for the job, but my go-tos are The Botanist or Wire Works and either Cocchi Vermouth di Torino or Carpano Antica Formula.

White Negroni

2 oz. gin
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
3/4 oz. Suze
Lemon twist

This variant from London bartender Wayne Collins is actually a lot more yellow than white, but let's not nitpick. Suze and Lillet make this Negroni a bit lighter but more herbal. It does diverge from the typical equal parts ratio, since Suze can be a bit overpowering. See my full post on this drink here.

Negroni Bianco 

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Luxardo Bitter Bianco
1 oz. blanc vermouth
Orange or grapefruit twist

This truly white Negroni is known as the Negroni Bianco, and it is my favorite drink on this list. In fact, it's easily one of my favorite drinks of all time. (Someone told me recently that I say that a lot on here. Well, tough. It's true, especially in this case.) It's beautifully light and balanced, still bitter but not overpowering. It would be a perfect introductory Negroni. I wish I'd had one years ago - I might have started liking Negronis sooner.

Special Negroni

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
Orange twist

I have a feeling this recipe exists under other names, but ever since I was served one at Canary Square in Boston, I call it the Special Negroni. This is the ultimate introductory Negroni - milder, sweeter, and a bit more citrusy, but still preserving all the crucial parts of the original.

Toffee Negroni

1 oz. aged rum
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. Amontillado sherry
Grapefruit twist

I had never heard of this Negroni until I saw it in Kara Newman's equal parts cocktail book Shake. Stir. Sip. Created by Lynette Marrero, it has a deep toffee sweetness with just the right amount of bitterness.

Deconstructed Negroni

1 oz. gin
3/4 oz. dry vermouth
Dehydrated Campari
Orange twist

This one is a bit more of a novelty than a go-to recipe, but it seemed like I ought to include it. A bartender at Roosevelt in Denver told me how they dehydrated Campari and used it to serve a colorless Negroni with a Campari rim. I tried it at home and was pretty pleased with the result. See how to make it here.

Boulevardier

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth

This is another drink that definitely goes on my list of all-time favorites. I find the juniper notes of gin one of the more polarizing things about a Negroni, and subbing in bourbon makes a smoother drink that's more akin to a Manhattan. Say what you will, but I'll order a Boulevardier over a Negroni any day. See my original post on the Boulevardier (from before I developed my undying love for this cocktail) here.

Old Pal

1 oz. rye
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. dry vermouth
Orange twist

A close relative of the Boulevardier, the Old Pal is an even lighter cocktail that uses dry vermouth instead of sweet. You can take it one step further and try a Pen Pal, which additionally swaps the Campari for Aperol.

I've seen a ton of other interesting Negroni variations this week... what's your favorite?

White Negroni

Hello again! It's been a little while since I posted. The past couple of weeks have been quite busy. We had lots of family visit, and my sister and I went on a quick weekend trip to London! It's something we had been talking about doing for a while, and I'm so glad we finally did.

We had both been to the city before, so this time we didn't do any of the usual touristy stuff - no museums, no tours, not even a peek at Big Ben. Instead, we just walked around the city, did a little shopping, and went to lots of bars and restaurants. It was really perfect. I had a long list of cocktail bars I wanted to check out, and right at the top was Nightjar, a world-famous spot renowned for their elaborately presented drinks. It didn't disappoint - the cocktail menu was insane, and each drink was a veritable work of art. Other highlights were the American Bar at the Savoy hotel, where Harry Craddock invented such classics as the Corpse Reviver #2, and Dandelyan, which effortlessly spanned the gap between simple, well-made cocktails and really innovative ingredients and techniques. I could have spent much longer in the city, but as weekend trips go, it was pretty much perfect!

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced Suze, a new bottle in my bar. Ever since then, I've been itching to try a White Negroni, one of the more popular Suze cocktails. A Negroni, as you probably know, is made with equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. The White Negroni swaps out the Campari for Suze and the sweet vermouth for Lillet Blanc. (You can also use Cocchi Americano, dry vermouth, or blanc vermouth if you don't have the Lillet.) While the drink lacks the Negroni's ruby red hue, its name is a bit misleading, as it is definitely not white - the Suze turns it a bright, sunny yellow.

The White Negroni may look like a pale imitation of its namesake, but it's anything but. It is a little less sweet than a Negroni, with a lighter flavor and mouthfeel, but with a bigger, more herbaceous finish. It preserves the spirit of the iconic cocktail, with sweet and bitter and strong flavors mixing perfectly together. The version I made comes from The PDT Cocktail Book, and doesn't use equal parts like a traditional Negroni - I prefer this, as I find the flavor of Suze pretty intense, and PDT's 3/4 oz seems perfect to me. But other books, such as A Proper Drink, do recommend 1 ounce of each ingredient. Try some different ratios and figure out what you like best!

History: The White Negroni was created by London bartender Wayne Collins in either 2001 or 2002 (I've seen both dates). He was in Bordeaux to participate in a cocktail contest hosted by Plymouth Gin. Nick Blacknell, a brand ambassador for the gin, asked Collins for a Negroni, but he didn't have any Campari. He reached for the Suze instead, and the locally-made Lillet instead of vermouth. Another Plymouth ambassador, Simon Ford, brought the recipe back to New York, where Audrey Sanders of Pegu Club helped make it famous.

White Negroni

2 oz. gin (Plymouth recommended)
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
3/4 oz. Suze

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with one large piece of ice, or into a coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Recipe adapted from The PDT Cocktail Book.
History from A Proper Drink and Gin Foundry.

Bottle Swap: Suze

Today is the second installment of my latest bottle swap with Adam of Mr. Muddle! A few weeks ago, we each made a cocktail with Banane du Bresil, which surprised me by being ridiculously tasty and extremely versatile. Today, the bottle we're working with is Suze - definitely more of an acquired taste than a crowd pleaser, but an ingredient I'm pretty excited to be adding to my bar.

Suze is a bitter French aperitif flavored with gentian root. It was first sold in 1889 by French distiller Fernand Moureaux. Some say he created the recipe with his partner, Henri Porte, and named it after his sister-in-law, Suzanne Jaspert. Other accounts allege that he purchased the formula in 1885 from a Swiss herbalist named Hans Kappeler, and that Kappeler inspired the name by saying that his aperitif would flow in France just like the river Suze. This turned out to be pretty accurate. Suze became incredibly popular in France, and was a fixture of cafe culture. Porte's design for the tall, distinctive bottle and its vivid yellow color made it instantly recognizable. It was even immortalized (albeit extremely abstractly) in Picasso's 1912 painting Verre et bouteille de Suze ("Glass and Bottle of Suze").

Though it has remained popular abroad, Suze was not even available in the United States until 2012, when Domaine Select began importing it. Since then, craft cocktail bars and home bartenders have been reintroduced to Suze, and are including it in all sorts of different recipes.

Suze's label refers to it as "Saveur d'autrefois," meaning "the flavor of yesteryear" or "the flavor of another time." This really sums up what I love about Suze, and about most other spirits and liqueurs that have been in production for a similarly long amount of time - when you drink it, you really are tasting the same thing that someone might have sipped in Paris in 1900, or that Picasso drank while he painted the bottle in 1912. It's a very romantic notion.

Suze is an excellent ingredient for adding to cocktails, but it can definitely be tricky to work with. Its flavor is bitter and vegetal, with hints of citrus. Its taste is as distinctive as its bright yellow color. The closest thing I can compare it to is Campari, though I would consider Suze more floral and earthy, and therefore more of an acquired taste. It adds some sweetness to your drink, but not without a big wallop of a bitter finish. As such, I tend to use it in fairly small amounts when I want it to play well with other ingredients. But it can also be enjoyed on its own on the rocks, or with soda or tonic.

Suze

Alcohol content: 20%
Price: $30
Popular Cocktails: White Negroni

Suze plays particularly well with fizz, and it's been way too long since I made a sparkling cocktail, so I knew where I wanted to go with this one. Suze and champagne is just ridiculously elegant and oh-so-French. Gin blended well with Suze's herbal notes, and I decided to amplify the floral, sunny flavors with a honey chamomile syrup and a bit of lemon juice. This cocktail tastes like wandering through French fields surrounded by wildflowers and buzzing bees. It's herbaceous and bitter, bright and fizzy. La saveur d'autrefois.

Be sure to check out what Adam has done with his half of the bottle over at Mr. Muddle! It's an equal-parts cocktail with mezcal and creme de menthe called Power of the Glow.

Apiary

1 1/2 oz. gin (GrandTen Wire Works)
1/2 oz. Suze
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. honey chamomile syrup*
3-4 oz. sparkling wine

Combine gin, Suze, lemon juice, and honey chamomile syrup in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a champagne flute and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with an edible flower.

*For honey chamomile syrup, heat 1/2 cup of brewed chamomile tea in a saucepan until it simmers. Add 1/2 cup honey and stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool before using.

Suze history mostly from Frenchly.com.

Gold Leader

Since I'm not making cocktails during my pregnancy, I've invited some fellow bloggers and cocktail enthusiasts to write guest posts and share their recipes. Today's guest blogger is Adam of Mr. Muddle!

Greetings Garnish Nation (Garnishites? Garnisheers?)! Katie has asked me to play guest blogger this week, and I couldn’t be happier to oblige.  Us Boston cocktail bloggers gotta stick together. Anyway, some of you may know that yesterday was a “holiday” of sorts for fans of a certain movie empire.  In these circles, May 4th is known as Star Wars Day (say “May the Fourth...” Get it?). So it seemed like a good time to put a new spin on one of my older Star Wars related drinks.

Just over a year ago I came up with a drink using bourbon, Aperol, Benedictine and lemon juice called Good Shot Red Two. The name comes from a throwaway line in Episode VI by Wedge Antilles during the Battle of Endor (you’ll see where I came up with the name for this new drink in that clip too). It’s a line that has stuck with me for many years, and works well as a cocktail name.

For this new spin, I decided to take the basic components of the drink (brown spirit, bitter liqueur, sweet liqueur, juice), but push the flavors a bit more. I really liked the interplay of sweet Benedictine and bitter Aperol in the original, so I thought about other ways to highlight this yin/yang flavor combo. My amari collection has grown a bit this year, and recently I got some Suze* to add to the arsenal. The bright herbaceousness matches the intense yellow color of this French liqueur. More floral than its Italian cousins, it seemed like a good counterpoint to the warm spices of Benedictine. As for the base spirit, I decided to use Cognac in place of bourbon, hoping to get a little more punch there as well.

*Fun Fact - After a successful bottle swap a few months ago, Katie and I decided to run it back again with different bottles and she chose Suze (I’ll keep the other half a secret for now). Then she made her big announcement and we had to put Round 2 of the bottle swap posts on hold. But it's too good to let it collect dust for 9 months.

The Gold Leader is a whirlwind of herbs and spices on the nose from the two liqueurs. Each whiff alternates between the bracing freshness of the Suze and the subtle warmth of the Benedictine. The sip starts with a round tartness as the lemon tries to peek through. The Cognac keeps things just soft enough, with the grape and burnt sugar notes popping through, while tannins in the background give it some bite. Wonderful warm low notes from the Benedictine and Cognac keep the Suze from taking over, but its unmistakeable botanicals are ever present.

Since this was a riff on a Star Wars themed cocktail, the name should stay true to that formula. Plus, I wanted to give a nod to the brilliant yellow gold color of Suze. Gold Leader is Lando Calrissian's call sign in the battle, and it certainly checks all those boxes. The Gold Leader is a perfect wingman to Good Shot Red Two, providing another take on a template worthy of more exploration.  

Thanks again to Katie for letting me take over her corner of cyberspace for a bit. Cheers!

Gold Leader

1 1/2 oz. Cognac (Hine VSOP)

1/2 oz. Suze

1/2 oz. Benedictine

1/2 oz. lemon juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.