Negroni cocktail recipe

A Negroni is a classic cocktail to enjoy before a meal, thanks to its status as a traditional aperitivo. Bitter orange liqueur can be an acquired taste, but combining it with equal parts gin and sweet vermouth immediately makes it more palatable and introduces a subtle sweetness as well as a dry element. This also makes it an incredibly easy cocktail to make. 

Known to have been around for more than a century, it’s thought the Negroni was originally coined in honour of Count Camillo Negroni in the 1920s. History goes the Count was a fan of the Americano cocktail (bitter orange liqueur, sweet vermouth and soda) but one day decided he needed something stronger. The bar-keep added gin, and there you have it. 

Over the past 100 years, the Negroni has grown steadily in popularity and is now the cocktail of choice for many folk, regular and famous alike. Legend has it Ernest Hemingway was a keen Negroni fan, as was the late Anthony Bourdain, who regularly whipped them up for his film crew on the road. There’s even a National Negroni Week, held each September, when bars and brands come together to raise money for charity while celebrating this ever-popular cocktail.

As a general rule of thumb, the fewer ingredients in a cocktail, the more important it is to use quality because there’s nowhere for these flavours to hide. For your Negroni, we recommend choosing a premium gin much like you would use in a Martini.  

The same quality approach should go for the sweet vermouth, too. And remember, vermouth only has a short life once opened (and they should be stored in the fridge), so make sure you’re using the freshest bottle you can.

Bitter red liqueur is somewhat of an acquired taste, so feel free to cut back on the amount if you are newer to its flavours. Simply add more gin instead. As your palate becomes accustomed to its bitterness, you can increase your ratio. And if you’re not a gin fan, or don’t have it on hand, you could make your Negroni with vodka instead. 

If you love this style of aperitivo cocktail, there are plenty to explore: try the party favourite Aperol Spritz or the Americano. And if you want to mix things up, there are plenty of easy riffs on the Negroni that you can whip up at home, too.