If you see the word “Negrone” spelled with an “e” featured on a cocktail list, you will immediately know two things: the person who put that list together isn’t Italian (Negrone is not the plural of Negroni) and the drinks are probably going to be fantastic.
Named for an Italian count and featuring two Italian products, the Negroni was just a more-American version of the so-called Americano cocktail. That cocktail had incorporated the Italian “bitters,” Campari and red “Italian” sweet vermouth (and was often topped with soda). The Americano was invented by Gaspare Campari in the 1860s at his bar in Milan years before his product Campari was even available in the United States.
The Negroni came along in the 1920s and was essentially the same cocktail, but more fortified with the addition of gin, which was much higher in proof and very American-pleasing. (Gin, even though illegal at the time, was the preeminent American liquor then.) And for nearly 100 years the Negroni stayed virtually the same, equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth.
Things have changed. Maybe it’s the tail wagging the dog, but now American mixologists are creating all kinds of “Negronis” incorporating different vermouths, amaros and even liquors. The combination of lower-proof fortified wine (vermouth), which by law must exceed 15% alcohol but be wine-based, and much higher-proof “bitters” or “amaros,” which run the gamut from about 30 proof all the way up to 90 proof, is the backbone of many famous cocktails: the Manhattan and the Martinez among them.
Amaro means “bitter” in Italian, but amaros are different from cocktail bitters. Cocktail bitters are considered “nonpotable” on their own and don’t need a liquor license to create or to sell, whereas amaros are meant to be drunk on their own and are regulated as alcohol by state and federal law. Confusing, huh?
What is not confusing is that the three-part harmony of liquor, bitters and vermouth is almost always pleasing regardless of which products one uses, as long as the proportions are correct. With that thought in mind, we offer four Negrone, including a non-alcoholic version, all localized, of course, for your consumption.
Saluto!
Jeff Burkhart is the author of “Twenty Years Behind Bars: The Spirited Adventures of a Real Bartender, Vol. I and II,” the host of the Barfly Podcast on iTunes and an award-winning bartender at a local restaurant. Follow him at jeffburkhart.net and contact him at jeffbarflyIJ@outlook.com
RECIPES
NorCal Negroni
¾ ounce Vya Sweet Vermouth
¾ ounce Gran Classico Bitter
¾ ounce Alamere London Dry Gin
1 blood orange wheel
1 star anise
Combine all three liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into an ice-filled serving glass and garnish with blood orange and star anise.
Note: Alamere Spirits was founded by chef Olivier Souvestre (of the defunct L’Appart Resto in San Anselmo, and Le Garage and F3 in Sausalito) and his wife, Susannah, and began production earlier this year making a wheat vodka, a citrus gin and this London dry. Vya Sweet Vermouth was co-founded by former Marin resident Michael Dellar, and Gran Classico Bitter is from Petluma’s Tempus Fugit Spirits.
Chiaro Amaro
¾ ounce Griffo Distillery gin (Petaluma)
½ ounce Cocchi Americano
1ounce Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth
1 Meyer lemon wheel
Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and float Meyer lemon wheel on top.
Note: Made in Napa by Gallo, Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth is a high-end and deliciously fresh sweet vermouth with no coloring added, rendering an almost perfectly clear take on sweet vermouth. Griffo Distillery gin is from Petaluma.
Bay Area Boulevardier
1 ounce Blackened whiskey
¾ ounce Mommenpop orange vermouth
½ ounce Young & Yonder Spirits California Amaro
1 Bada Bing all-natural stemmed cocktail cherry
Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with the cherry.
Note: At 60 proof, Young and Yonder’s amaro is a little lighter on the palate than many of the heavier Italian versions, which makes it both easier to mix with other ingredients and easier to drink on its own. It’s the North Bay alternative to aperol (also made by Campari). Blackened whiskey was pioneered by Marin’s own Metallica.
No-Groni (non-alcoholic)
2 ounces the Free Spirits Co. non-alcoholic “the Spirit of Gin”
¾ ounce Giffard Aperitif syrup (non-alcoholic)
¾ ounce Fever-Tree “Indian” tonic water
1 lime zest
Combine first two ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir. Strain into an ice-filled serving glass. Top with tonic and stir again. Garnish with lime zest.
Note: Founded by Tiburon’s Milan Martin, Free Spirits makes and markets three non-alcoholic alternatives: the Spirit of Gin, the Spirit of Tequila and the Spirit of Bourbon. All get their kick from capsicum and all are deliciously alcohol-free.
There are no delicious non-alcoholic vermouths as of yet. Tonic water uses some of the same bittering agents and is a delicious non-alcoholic alternative.
