



GLASS



Old Fashioned tumbler





PREPARATION



Cool an Old Fashioned tumbler in the freezer. When it has cooled enough, drop four ice cubes in it. Make sure they are fresh and dry. Stir the gin, Campari and vermouth directly in the tumbler. Garnish with half a slice of orange. The slice must be freshly cut to release its perfume. It should also be thick and chunky, ½ cm or more, since many people like to actually squeeze it between their fingers before dropping it into the drink.



N.B. While we prefer using the somewhat more bitter Punt E Mes Vermouth for the Americano, the herbs contained in the gin we're using here combine much better with the deeper flavours of Cocchi's Vermouth de Torino .





NOTES



The history behind the Negroni is disputed.



The best known version is that the cocktail was imagined in 1919 by Count Cammillo Negroni, who often frequented Caffè Casoni on Via Tornabuoni in Florence. Caffè Casoni is still on Via Tornabuoni today, although it has been renamed Caffè Giacosa and is now owned by Roberto Cavalli. Tired of his aperitivo Americano, and having just returned from London, Count Negroni asked barman Fosco Scarselli to swap the soda with London Dry Gin. His "usual" became an "Americano alla moda del conte Negroni", using the slice of orange instead of lemon to identify it as a different drink.



The other version claims the cocktail was invented by a Corsican Brigadier General in the French cavalry, called Pascal Olivier de Negroni de Cardi, Comte de Negroni.



Either way, the Negroni is a delicious cocktail. The bitterness of the Campari and the dryness of the gin make it ideal as a refreshing pre-dinner aperitif on a hot summer evening, which is why it is served with ice, in a tumbler, rather than strained into a martini glass. It is one of Italy's most famous aperitifs.



