Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Negroni. Or, How Sharkbait Finally Got Some Campari

A successful trip to socially distantly see family in NH last weekend meant two things: 1) Legal sports betting (PRAISE GAMBLOR!) and 2) Cheap booze! A quick pitstop at the liquor store before heading to my father in law’s resulted in a nice re-supply for my bar. I also (finally) procured an ingredient I’ve been lacking for some time now: Campari. There are plenty of uses for Campari, but my main objective in getting some was making a classic: The Negroni.

The Negroni is such a staple, that seven out of the nine cocktail books I have feature a recipe for them. The two exceptions are Charles Baker’s Gentleman’s companion, and The Cocktail Lab by Tony Conigliaro. Neither of which I’m surprised at the lack of inclusion.

Most of the books follow the same basic structure: equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. The notable outlier is the Waldorf Astoria book, which called for 1.25 oz. of gin to 1 oz. Campari to 1 oz. vermouth. Liking a stronger drink, I decided to use the variant from Meehan’s Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan:

1.25 oz. Gin

1.25 oz. Campari

1.25 oz. Sweet vermouth

Stir with ice, then strain into a chilled rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist

I immediately get a very botanical nose. I also get orange citrus from the orange garnish. I made sure to squeeze the garnish to express the vapor from the peel over the top of the drink. The sweet vermouth scent is prevalent as well. No gin notes to speak of.

The taste is very smooth. The gin flavor is there, but not very strong. The recipe in the Bartender Manual called for beefeater, and I used Gordons. Neither of which are “top shelf” gins, which I think is by design. I’d save the “better” gins for martinis, or any drink where you really want to taste the gin. Here it adds a foundation but takes a back seat to the rest of the ingredients. Though Jim Meehan says he likes to add more gin for a stronger drink. I think I might do that the next time I make one.

The bitterness of the Campari is the real star flavor. Not a “back of the throat” kind of bitter flavor. But it’s certainly there. It even lingers on the palate for a minute or two after you’re finished with the sip. The vermouth comes in more toward the end to balance out the bitter Campari, and keep balance.

One of the good things a Negroni has going for it, is that it is easy to tweak into another drink. Swap out the gin for some whiskey, you have a Boulevardier for example:

2 oz. Rye

1 oz. Vermouth

1 oz. Campari

Stir with ice, then strain into a chilled rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist

Same overall nose at work here. There is no real discernable difference between the two.

This is also delicious. Very Manhattan-esque. Which should come as no surprise since a Boulevardier is two thirds of a Manhattan. If I was blindfolded and handed this drink, I would immediately say I was drinking a Manhattan, until about midway through the sip, when the Campari flavor joins the party.

The whiskey cuts through the Campari more than the gin. But there is also .75 more rye than gin in this drink, so I would expect that to be the case. The bitterness still lingers afterward, but it isn’t as intense as the Negroni.

These are both very good drinks. I was excited to finally try them. Now that I have a giant bottle of Campari, I should do more research into other drinks I can make with it…

(Banner image found here)