Now, a Negroni isn't everyone's cup of tea. It's a bitter, extremely punchy and rather short drink. It's very niche.
But, when done right, it's a spectacular little drink. It's all about balance- just the three ingredients, stirred and chilled to perfection. You end up, hopefully, with a slightly sweet, almost savoury drink with a very clean finish (or, if you want to make a smokey version, swapping out your gin for Mezcal is a very nice way to go).
Ingredients
25ml Campari - gotta be Campari. Other Italian bitters may do, but this is the definitive and classic way to do things. Leave it alone.
25ml London Dry Gin- a good, clean, dry gin’s the way to go- Tanqueray, T10, Sipsmith, something of that ilk.
25ml Sweet Vermouth- nothing wrong with Martini rosso, it’ll serve you perfectly well. Cocchi have a range of beautiful vermouths I swear by, and the Cocchi di Torino is my personal choice.
A tiny, tiny dash of sugar syrup. Like 5ml top. Gives it a little extra sweetness.
Method
Chill a Double Old Fashioned. Chill a mixing glass. Basically chill everything you can. I’m a big fan of putting a handful of mixing glasses in the fridge for as and when you need them- it means when you're stirring the drink, all you’re doing is chilling the drink - dilution is at a minimum as the glass is having no effect on the ice, melting it quicker than you might want. The only dilution happening is from your stirring, so if you’ve a consistent stir you’re always making the same drink. Consistency is king!
Anyway, fill your mixing glass with ice, add all ingredients and slowly stir through the ice until the drink is chilled to your liking. Colour’s a big part of this drink, it should hold that strong crimson colour throughout, so if it goes pale pink you know you're overstirring it. Pour into your DOF with a couple of cubes of big ice, and finish with a lemon or orange twist. Job done!
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