How to make the perfect Negroni

This simple yet famous Italian cocktail is a great way to enjoy gin, especially Australian craft gin. As with most cocktails, the exact historical origins are cloudy, but it is commonly accepted that the Negroni came from Florence, Italy in 1919.

Count Camillo Negroni loved the Americano cocktail, which is very similar to the Negroni, but on this particular night, the Count was keen to loosen up! He asked Fosco Scarselli to swap the soda water for gin to get the party started and the Negroni was born! [1]

Ingredients:

30 mL gin

30 mL sweet red vermouth (aka vermouth rosso)

30mL Campari

Directions:

• Fill a glass with ice
• Add the gin, vermouth and Campari. One shot of each
• Stir with a long spoon for 20-30 seconds until the drink is absolutely freezing
• Strain the cold mixture into a short Old Fashioned type glass
• Add a large piece of ice
• Garnish with an orange peel or slice of orange

 What gin should you use? Any gin that you like! If you are in Australia, there is a huge range of delicious Australian gins to try.

Fun fact- Campari used to use smashed up insects/parasites to get its red colour, called cochineals. They stopped using this as of the year 2006 and now use commercially available dye. Cochineal is still found as a colourant in meat, drinks, ice cream, yoghurt, lollies and more!

References:

[1] L. Picchi, Sulle tracce del conte. La vera storia del cocktail Negroni, Edizioni Plan, Florenz