Cocktail Recipe: Three new takes on the Negroni
Last year, Stanley Tucci posted an innocent video of himself making a Negroni and the internet was stunned. Not at how he managed to fit his massively chiseled biceps into the world’s smallest polo, but at how he shook his Negroni instead of stirring it.
We have reached peak Negroni consciousness where everyone knows what a Negroni is and how to make it. At over 100 years old, the cocktail’s popularity is well-deserved. It can be enjoyed at any time, whether it be before a meal or on a hot summer afternoon. Plus, it’s easy to make, stirring equal parts gin, Campari, and vermouth.
But now you can buy boxed Negronis to take with you to the beach so you can read your book about Negronis while wearing your Negroni espadrilles, your Negroni watch, and your sports coat made of Negroni Tweed. Like your favorite hit song that starts to get overplayed on the radio and then appears in commercials and movies, the Negroni’s rise in popularity has given me Negroni fatigue. In 2018, The New York Times reported that the Negroni was “the second most called-for cocktail in the world”, exceeded only by the old-fashioned.
It would be all too easy to replace the Negroni for another terrific cocktail (after all have you tried a Monte Carlo?). But even though I’ve grown tired of it, it doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up on the Negroni completely. So for those of you in the same boat, here are three alternatives to the Negroni.
Boulevardier
Some people mistake the Boulevardier as the bourbon variation of the Negroni. But if you want to act pretentious, you can inform them that the Negroni is probably the gin version of the Boulevardier because the Boulevardier actually predates the Negroni’s official documentation by 20 years. The Boulevardier’s origins are well-documented, having first appeared in the 1927 bar guide Barflies and Cocktails written by Harry McElhone. McElhone was an American bartender who moved to Europe after prohibition shut down the bar he managed at the Plaza Hotel. In Paris, McElhone helmed his own bar, Harry’s New York Bar, where he was exposed to new ingredients, including Campari.
McElhone credits one of his regular customers, Erskine Gwynne, with the creation of the cocktail and named it after the monthly journal, The Boulevardier, for which Gwynne served as editor-in-chief.
While the drink’s recipe is nearly identical to the Negroni, the Boulevardier is more likely a variant of the Manhattan. Angotsura bitters are replaced with Campari to impart not only its citrusy bitterness but also its attractive red coloring. Overall, I find the drink sweeter than a Manhattan with a longer, bitter finish.
Boulevardier
Servings: 1
INGREDIENTS:
1 OZ bourbon
1 OZ Campari
1 OZ sweet vermouth
Orange peel garnish
Glass: Old Fashioned
INSTRUCTIONS:
Fill mixing glass with ice
Add all ingredients to mixing glass
Stir for 20 seconds
Add a nice big piece of ice to your Old Fashioned glass
Strain drink into glass
Garnish with orange peel
Negroni Bianco
The Negroni Bianco is the perfect drink for someone who wants to try something new but doesn’t want to stray too far from the classic Negroni. Legend has it that in 2001, British bartender Wayne Collins was at a beverage trade show in France and wanted to make Negronis but didn’t have Campari or sweet vermouth. Instead, Collins found bottles of Lillet Blanc and Suze, a bittersweet gentian liquer, and invented the White Negroni. The cocktail became a huge success and spread to bars across the globe.
Since then, a whole new crop of clear bitter liquers has emerged. One of my favorites is Luxardo Bitter Bianco, which was released in 2016. Bitter Bianco shares the same bitter characteristics as Campari but loses the red color. I personally find it to be slightly sweeter. To keep the drink white and to balance the sweetness, dry vermouth is used instead.
While you may lose the attractive red coloring and gain some sweetness, rest assured, it still tastes very much like a Negroni.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 OZ gin
1 1/4 OZ Luxardo Bitter Bianco
1 1/4 OZ dry vermouth
Two skewered maraschino cherries
Glass: Old Fashioned
INSTRUCTIONS:
Fill mixing glass with ice
Add all ingredients to the mixing glass
Stir for 20 seconds
Add a nice big piece of ice to your Old Fashioned glass
Strain drink into the glass
Garnish with skewered cherries
Kingston Negroni
If you’re looking to shake things up (God awful pun intended) in your bar, Smith & Cross rum is a must. While the bold and funky rum will undeniably become a main player in your tiki and tropical drinks, it can also hold its own in a Negroni - more specifically, the Kingston Negroni.
The Kingston Negroni was created by New York bartender Joaquin Simo. “It strikes me as strange that the first thought I had when smelling and tasting this funky, estery, hogo-reeking, grilled banana bread, smoking allspice, brute of an overproof Jamaican rum was, ‘How do I work this into a stirred apertivo?’” In a Negroni, gin’s herbaceous flavor is well-behaved and charming, like Michael Bublé singing “Haven’t Met You Yet” at your party. Replacing gin with Smith & Cross is like asking Michael Bublé to leave and inviting Pitbull to perform “Time of Your Life” and we know that Mr. Worldwide likes to party. Simo generally avoids using Carpano Antica in his Negronis due to its own overpowering flavor, but claims its the only sweet vermouth that has the fortitude to stand up to Smith & Cross.
Famed Redditor, hebug, concurs. “Certain cocktails are amenable to substitution, but this is not one of those. It balances three intense flavors: the crazy ester character of Smith & Cross rum, the bold bitterness of Campari, and the pungent herbal notes of Carpano Antica. Much like a three-legged stool, if any of these flavor components are short, the drink will be unbalanced and likely simply not work.”
The result is a Negroni that tastes unlike anything else I ever had. The taste starts off with a funky fruity banana flavor mixed with orange citrus and then slowly shifts to the bitterness of Campari and the sweetness of Carpano Antica.
Kingston Negroni
Servings: 1
INGREDIENTS:
1 OZ Smith & Cross rum
1 OZ Campari
1 OZ Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
Orange peel garnish
Glass: Old Fashioned
INSTRUCTIONS:
Fill mixing glass with ice
Add all ingredients to mixing glass
Stir for 20 seconds
Add a nice big piece of ice to your Old Fashioned glass
Strain drink into glass
Garnish with orange peel