The Negroni is a timeless cocktail, long seen as one of the great bar classics. While we’ll never tire of this drink in its original form, there’s a bunch of spots around the country taking the classic and giving it a fun new spin. The results are rather enticing!
Regal Cinema Negroni
At Gupshup in New York City, this spin on the Negroni contains Cardamom Tea, Tanqueray 10 gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. “This Negroni takes its inspiration from the iconic Regal Cinema in Colaba, a bustling neighborhood in Bombay. Just like watching a Monday Matinee at Regal Cinema, calm and unhurried, the apéritif needs time to be enjoyed. Cardamom tea is a reminder of the tea stalls lining the roads outside making a perfect accompaniment for a movie and dinner.” Tenzin Samdo, mixology consultant at Gupshup.
I’ll Say She Does
At Ever Bar in Los Angeles, this cocktail is named after Al Jolson’s 1919 hit song that was also the year the Negroni was invented. This cocktail contains peanut butter fat-washed bourbon, Campari, Lustau Pedro Ximenez and topped off with a fluffy Negroni foam.
A Night in Tunisia
The newly opened Rosa Rosa in Portland, Oregon, from James Beard award-winner Vitaly Paley features A Night in Tunisia on their menu. It is based off of a Negroni with a blend of warming spices (allspice, clove, cinnamon, fennel seed), coffee beans, and peppercorn, which is a nod to Portland’s coffee scene and the Ottoman Empire cuisine. It is batched then steeped with spices and is served on draft.
Negroni Chios
At Meze Greek Fusion in San Diego, the classic Italian cocktail recipe gets a Roman twist with the Negroni Chios, which is made with Carpano Antica Vermouth, Campari and Mastika, a liqueur that enhances the cocktail with slight notes of cedar. Opa!
Blood Orange Negroni
At Primavera Ristorante in Coronado, California, their blood orange Negroni is made with gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. This Negroni recipe receives an upgrade with the addition of fresh blood red orange juice, making it fun, bright, with an unexpected edge.
Negroni Mexicana
At El Chingon in San Diego, the Negroni gets a Mexican makeover at El Chingon. Made with Espolòn blanco tequila, Mancino Rosso vermouth and Campari, this recipe takes the Negroni south of the border.
Mezcal Safecracker
At The Up & Up in Greenwich Village in New York, the Mezcal Safecracker is crafted from Bruxo Mezcal, Campari, and Ancho Reyes chile liqueur with an orange peel garnish.“The simplest way to describe it would be as a spicy Negroni, but that’s not giving it the credit it deserves. There’s a lot going on here. The Campari, instead of overpowering the mezcal, actually pulls out a lot of its dusty mineralogy. The Ancho Reyes provides a significant spice kick without adding too much in the way of flavor. I mist a little Grappa over the top just to give it a funky aroma which I feel prepares the drinker for interesting flavors. The name is an homage to the Italian actor Gian Maria Volonté. He played the villain, El Indio, in the Sergio Leone spaghetti western, For a Few Dollars More. In the film, he is a Mexican bandit, and his goal is to break open a specific bank safe that he’s convinced has a million dollars in it. Italian actor, Mexican character, cracking a safe, et voilà,” says Matt Piacentini, owner of The Up & Up.
The Sbagliato
At Esther’s Kitchen in Las Vegas, their winter cocktail menu includes a revisit of the Sbagliato (“screw up”), the great mistake that was created, legend has it, when a bartender messed up a Negroni by adding Prosecco instead of gin. They make theirs with Campari (naturally), Prosecco, and Barolo Chinato amaro, for what they feel is the best balance of sweet and bitter. Then it’s topped with a fresh rosemary sprig.
Pacific Negroni
This bright spin on the Negroni feels a touch tropical! “The way the amaro di angostura and liq strega play together replaces sweet vermouth and a lesser amount of complimentary ingredients really allow the beauty of the Nikka Gin to shine. Lemon instead of orange peel because its bright and matches with Strega and the gin perfectly,” says beverage director Josh Novy of Untitled Supper Club in Chicago. Liq Strega is a “witch’s love potion” and this variation shows the love for both Nikka gin and the Negroni.
No-Groni
At Jovanina’s Broken Italian in Denver, this mocktail is made of non-alcoholic wine and Sanbitter soda. “This was a cocktail created by Freddy Schwenk in Nashville, who graciously let me steal it for our NA cocktail menu,” says Sean Keipper, the beverage director. “The reason it’s such a great cocktail is its simplicity and efficacy as a non-alcoholic drink; it only has two ingredients – non-alcoholic wine and Sanbitter soda – and tastes almost exactly like a Negroni does. That’s great for guests and bartenders alike.”
