Mark Hix on the classic Negroni: A bitter pill to cure your ills
Although I’m rather partial to hardcore cocktails, I arrived to the Negroni party late – about ten years ago – because the medicinal flavour didn’t really do it for me. Then, like with so many things, the Groucho changed my life: now it’s my cocktail of choice. My bar staff even put one in my hand when they can see the look in my eyes that suggests danger lies ahead.
It’s everywhere now, with all decent cocktail bars doing their take on it.
The concoction started its life in Florence in 1919, the story goes, when Count Camillo Negroni invented it by asking the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to harden up his favorite cocktail, the tamer Americano, by adding gin rather than soda water.
The bartender also added a slice of orange instead of the typical lemon garnish so it stood apart visually on the bar.
I like classic drinks like this, without too many ingredients and fuss, and we serve it with an ice sphere which keeps the drink nice and strong throughout (you can even use the same sphere for your second dose if you drink it quick enough).
To be honest the type of gin you use doesn’t make a great deal of difference, as the mix of the red vermouth and Campari mask the flavour, but what does make a difference is the vermouth; use something like Antica Formula or another small batch red vermouth.
Various bartenders have tried to make this classic their own (I recently spotted a White Negroni kicking around the London cocktail scene). But my advice is to save your innovations for something else: the Negroni should be kept as pure as can be.
Negroni (serves 2)
You can buy ice sphere moulds online or in Muji – they’re ideal for maintaining a cocktail’s strength and well worth keeping a stock of in your freezer.
• 50ml gin
• 50ml Antica formula or red vermouth
• 50ml Campari
• 1 twist of orange peel or a slice of orange (blood oranges in season are great too)
Pour all the ingredients into a mixing glass and top up with cubed ice. Stir for 15 seconds. Strain into a tumbler glass over an ice sphere. Serve with an orange twist or slice.
New Hix Spring Lunch Menu: From this Wednesday Hix is launching his spring lunch menu: 2 courses for £9.95 each week day – changing weekly.