The classic Negroni is made with equal parts of gin, bitter (most often Campari) and sweet vermouth, but the cocktail’s ever-increasing popularity has helped to create a huge variety of unique Negroni recipes. Whether tequila, rum or mezcal as its base count as a Negroni is debatable (Boulevardier is not called a Bourbon Negroni…). Perhaps anything can be a Negroni if it has the three necessary elements of spirit, bitter and fortified wine.
To be honest, who really cares as long as the drink is tasty, bitter and punchy? I have created ten variations of the classic. Which one is your favourite?
1 Christmas Negroni
I used Tarquin’s Figgy Pudding Gin, which is made using their Cornish Dry Gin as its base with added dried fig, clementine zest, seasonal spices and brandy-soaked cherrywood chips. After distillation a dash of PX sherry is added. It is delicious sipped on its own, but also works nicely in this Christmas Negroni. Of course, you could try another Christmassy/wintery gin as well. Amaro Meletti allowed the gin botanicals to shine through while bringing a touch of candied orange to it.
25ml Figgy Pudding Gin
15ml Amaro Meletti
10ml Sweet Vermouth (I used Valentian Vermouth)
25ml Campari
Slice of orange (or blood orange if available)
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled tumbler. Garnish with a juicy slice of (blood) orange.
2 Coffee & Star Anise Negroni
The coffee-infusion and the higher ABV of the rum really creates a beautifully balanced Negroni. If you can’t get your hands on this specific rum, consider infusing your own.
30ml Coffee-infused Ron Colon High-Proof rum
25ml Star anise-infused Campari*
5ml Campari**
30ml Cocchi Storico Vermouth
Orange peel and dark chocolate garnish
Stir all ingredients with ice in the glass part of your shaker. Strain into an ice-filled tumbler and garnish with an orange peel and a chunk of very dark chocolate.
*I used five star anise to 200ml of Campari. Store in the fridge overnight.
** I may have forgotten to strain my infused Campari first thing in the morning, so the infusion was a bit on the strong side. However, the cocktail really came together once I added 5ml of plain Campari and brought the vermouth up to 30ml from 25ml. Of course, you can ignore these adjustments if your infusion is just right.
3 Sloe-groni
In this recipe, the vermouth is replaced with sloe gin.
25ml Gin (I used Salcombe)
25ml Campari
25ml Sloe Gin (I used Sipsmith)
Orange slice
In the glass part of your shaker, combine all ingredients and stir well with ice. Strain into an ice-filled tumbler and garnish with citrus.
Transform your Negroni by simply changing the vermouth. Changing vermouth is a great way to find the right balance of sweetness, texture and botanicals that most suit your taste buds. How Vermouth Can Change Your Negroni.
4 Fig Negroni
As this recipe has added sugar syrup, I have adjusted the measurements slightly to avoid the drink becoming overly sweet, and the Navy Strength gin really helps to cut through the sweetness.
30ml Navy Strength Gin (I used Kirkjuvagr Arkh-Angell)
20ml Cynar
20ml Sweet vermouth (I used Starlino Rosso)
10ml Fig syrup*
Orange or pink grapefruit peel
Stir all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into an ice-filled tumbler. Garnish with the citrus peel.
*To make the syrup, add sugar, water and figs to a saucepan. Muddle the figs gently to release more flavour. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat, cover with a lid and leave to sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Strain and store in the fridge.
5 Blood Orange Negroni
This recipe is somewhere between Negroni and Garibaldi. Feel free to make it longer by increasing the amount of blood orange juice.
25ml Navy Strength Gin (I used Tarquin’s SeaDog)
25ml Campari
25ml Amaro Meletti
25ml Fresh blood orange juice, adjust to taste
Blood orange slice or peel
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled tumbler. Garnish with blood orange.
6 Pineapple Tequila Negroni
This recipe would also work well with chilli-infused mezcal. I didn’t have any so my thinking here was to create the smokiness using Arbikie Chilli Vodka.
25ml Tequila Reposado (I used Pancho Datos)
25ml Pineapple-infused Campari*
25ml Sweet vermouth (I used Martini Riserva Speciale Rubino)
15ml Smoky Chilli Vodka (I used Arbikie)
In the glass part of your shaker, combine all ingredients and stir well with ice. Strain into an ice-filled tumbler and garnish with a citrus peel.
*To make the infusion, simply add pineapple slices to Campari and leave to macerate in the fridge for a few days. Taste after three days and strain if ready or leave for another day or so. Give it an occasional stir. Strain and store in the fridge.
7 Pink Negroni
I have to admit, I’m not a huge White Negroni lover as I often find them too floral to my liking. By using Brentingby Pink Gin (made with hibiscus, rooibos and baobab) and blueberry-infusion, this recipe is more fruity than floral.
25ml Pink Gin (I used Brentingby Pink Gin)
30ml Blueberry-infused white vermouth (I used Ferdinand’s)*
25ml Suze
Pink grapefruit peel
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled tumbler or serve without ice in a coupe glass. Garnish with a pink grapefruit twist.
*To make the infusion, simply muddle blueberries with the vermouth and leave to macerate in the fridge for three days to a week. Give it an occasional stir. Test the flavour. Strain and store in the fridge once you’re happy with it.
8 Mead-groni
The more mature and fruitier melomel-style meads lend themselves as a replacement for vermouth in a Negroni. As Kinsale Meads are off-dry, I decided to mix two different meads together to enhance the fruitiness. Kinsale Wild Red Mead is made with blackcurrants, cherries and forest honey. This one has been matured for 18 months to achieve an even richer flavour profile. Their Hazy Summer Mead is made using six types of ripe summer berries.
25ml Gin (I used Kirkjuvagr Harpa)
12.5ml Kinsale Wild Red Mead
12.5ml Kinsale Hazy Summer Mead
25ml Aperitivo Bitter (I used La Valdotaine as it is less bitter than Campari)
Citrus peel for garnish
In the glass part of your shaker, combine all ingredients and stir well with ice. Strain into an ice-filled tumbler and garnish with a citrus peel.
9 Sbagliato Fragola
In this recipe, gin is replaced by a good measure of Prosecco. Serve with or without ice. I recommend using a vermouth that’s fairly sweet, especially if the Prosecco is quite dry.
25ml Sweet vermouth (I used Starlino Rosso)
25ml Strawberry-infused Campari*
Prosecco (or sparkling Rosé)
Orange twist garnish
First add vermouth and infused Campari into a mixing glass and stir with ice. Strain into a coupe, top up with Prosecco and garnish with an orange twist. You could also use a wine glass or a tumbler with ice.
*To make the infusion, simply add sliced strawberries into Campari and leave to macerate in the fridge for at least three days. Give it an occasional stir. Strain and store in the fridge.
10 Cherry Negroni
I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw this recipe, but I’m pretty sure Katie from @whatskatiedoing shared a similar recipe with me last summer. I was intrigued by it but wasn’t expecting to really like it. To my surprise, it was delicious! Not something you’d drink every day, but an occasional dessert Negroni for sure! There may not be cherries available just now but keep this in mind for the cherry season.
30ml Gin (I used Tarquin’s)
25ml Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
25ml Campari
4 Fresh cherries, pitted and muddled
Cherry and lemon peel garnish
Muddle the cherries in the bottom of your shaker, add the remaining ingredients and stir with ice. Double strain into an ice-filled tumbler. Garnish with a cherry and lemon peel.
Have you tried any interesting Negroni recipes recently? Do you consider it a Negroni if there is no gin but the rest remains the same?
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