It was over 15 years ago that I had my first Negroni. I was in Rome, on vacation with good friends Tom and Jeannie. A favorite professor of Tom’s from architecture school invited us to dine with her at her wonderful apartment in a Renaissance-era building with medieval origins, built on the ruins of the Temple of Venus near the Campo de’ Fiori. She proved to be a warm, funny and gracious hostess, but the figure that first greet us at the door was striking and certainly worthy of that setting –all in black with an inky bob, Cleopatra eye makeup and holding a sparkling pitcher of cocktails the color of her bright red lips.
The Negroni is a classic Italian cocktail that’s a bit like our hostess — dramatic, but inviting. It’s three ingredients, gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, all have strong flavors, but come together in a deliciously balanced drink with a beautiful blood red color. The traditional recipe calls for equal proportions of each, but I encourage you to experiment to suit your taste. (Not surprisingly, I like a more generous dose of gin.) Shake with ice and serve up or on the rocks. Garnish with a strip of orange zest.
Of course, which gin and vermouth you use to balance the bittersweet orange flavor of Campari will also have an important effect on the character of the drink. For a mellower traditional Negroni, I like to use a London dry gin such as Martin Miller’s and Carpano Antica Formula vermouth (which is also my favorite for Manhattans). This silky-smooth vermouth is hard to find, but it’s available online for $30 at the excellent www.caskstore.com and other online sources.
My favorite Negroni variation, though, has a brighter and more herbal flavor that comes from using the aromatic Hendrick’s gin from Scotland and Carpano Punt e Mes vermouth. Hendrick’s is now widely available in good liquor stores, but Punt e Mes can still be a little hard to find, although it’s just $20 at www.caskstore.com and other online sources. I don’t care for Punt e Mes in Manhattans, but this bright herbal vermouth is delicious on its own over ice with a twist of orange or lemon.
Whichever variation you choose, a pitcher of Negronis is a great way to bring a little Italian drama to the cocktail hour.
