The Negroni

A holy trinity cocktail - history in a glass

The Negroni is the love story between two cities, coming together in a glass.

The story of the Negroni starts in Milan. On the Piazza del Duomo, where now the impressive architectural cathedral stands tall which took nearly 580 years to build blows you away. On that Piazza, you could once find a little caffe, owned and operated by a man with the name Gaspare Campari. This Caffe Amicizia, translating to friendship, was the birthplace of the bright red bitter aperitif we all know and love.
Gaspare sold his café to the city, in exchange for a spot in the newly built Vittorio Emanuele II. Until this day, if you walk past the impressive Cathedral, towards the galleria, on the left side, you will find Gaspare’s new caffe, Gaspare’s bar. (Now named Camparino in Galleria).

At this spot in the 1860s, we find the first signs of a Negroni, when Gaspare wants to celebrate the flavours of Milan and Turin, by combining the Campari from Milan and the sweet vermouth from Turin in equal parts in a glass: the Milano – Torino, or Mi-To was born. It wasn’t long after (or maybe even in the same day) that soda water was added to make an Americano*, which gained popularity in the 1950’s because James Bond was drinking them before he discovered the Vesper. .

From Milano to Torino to Firenze.

If you take a stroll from the Ponte Vecchio along the Arno river in Florence, towards the Ponte Santa Trinita, and take a right on the Via de’ Tornabuoni, about 230 meters North, across from the Palazzo Strozzi, you will see an Armani clothing store in an old sandstone building. Long before the designer clothes were hanging on these walls, Caffe Giacosa was located there. It was here, where on one day in 1919 a flamboyant count by the name of Camillo Negroni asked for a bit more kick in his Americano. The bartender, by the name of Fosco Scarselli, responded by omitting the soda water for gin. This became known as Count’s Negroni drink, later to be just called a Negroni.

Nowadays you can find a namesake bar just a bit further in one of the tighter side streets, not really the real deal, but I am sure they can make a banging negroni.

My favourite Negroni

When it comes to making a Negroni, an equal parts drink, we always start with the bright red coloured liqueur that is Campari.

Now, when we look at classic cocktails that contain gin, the original is made with either a London dry style gin: citrus and juniper forward. Or a Dutch gin, better known as Genever, which comes closer to a new-make whisky due to it’s malt base. And I can tell you that a Negroni made with Genever – also known as a red lantern – comes highly recommended. However, it’s hard to get your hands on in this part of the world so we are going with Tanqueray, in my opinion one of the best no-nonsense London dry gins out there. It has four botanicals (juniper, coriander seed, liquorice and angelica root) and there is not much more to it.

The sweet vermouth, there’s only one for me that goes really well here and that is Carpano Antica Formula; bold and delicious, holds up perfectly against the Campari and Tanqueray.

For garnish, I do prefer an orange zest, however the orange slice goes just as well.

If you swap out the London dry gin for a lighter style, make sure to choose a lighter vermouth, like Cinzano, but keep in mind that Campari is bitter, therefore the flavours of a more delicate gin/vermouth combination might be overpowered.

The Negroni:

30 ml Campari

30 ml Tanqueray London dry gin

30 ml Carpano Antica Formula

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass, stir.

Pour over ice in an old fashioned glass.

Express orange zest and drop in the glass.

The Negroni, for me is the perfect after work drink, it kinda slaps you in the face hard enough to leave work behind and ease into fun. Like a ritual, the holy trinity of Campari, gin and sweet vermouth helps transition you into the next part of the day.

*) There are some accounts that claim the Milano – Torino already always had soda water in it, and the name changed due to the popularity of the drink amongst Americans. We are talking about the Negroni however. Remember; the history of cocktails are written by the ones who drank them so stories may slightly change overtime.