Cocktail epiphany

[Jenise]

I have tasted, and disliked, Campari on several occasions. And I therefore blamed my not liking the one Negroni I had to my dislike (after all, I like gin) of Campari. I have tolerated other Amaros as interesting small-dose components in a few cocktails, but I'm relatively inexperienced so when I say "a few" I mean maybe five drinks.

So how weird was it that I really liked the bitterest of Negroni's served to my Saturday night by a friend who is the best mixologist I know (he's both a foodie and a physicist)? It was the classic third/third/third proportions, but it was all amaro: Campari, Cynar, and Fernet-Branca. The drink was finished with a pinch of salt and a strand of lemon peel, though Jon acknowledged that it should have been grapefruit. Called a Bottechia (after the first Italian to win the Tour de France, I believe), the recipe was from a book all about Negronis that I know Hoke will be familiar with, but I wasn't.

Maybe there's hope for me after all.

Haven't had that one, but it sounds pretty interesting. You must have a taste for bitter stuff if you liked that!

[Robin Garr]

Haven't had that one, but it sounds pretty interesting. You must have a taste for bitter stuff if you liked that!

I had an amusing talk with an Italian wine maker once who just about went postal over how horrible Fernet Branca is. I do like Cynar and Campari, though, although you probably know that Campari has been the object of a shaming campaign because it's colored with dead beetles (cochineal). prompting some of the hipper local eateries to switch over to Gran Clasico Bitter for their Negronis.

I think the folks at Campari changed the recipe a few years back to eliminate the cochineal. Whatever they were thinking regarding objections to dead bug colorants, they managed to outrage a number of purists who saw the cochineal as a natural product and are now unhappy because they're using artificial coloring instead.

Sometimes, you just can't win!

As to Campari and cochineal: yes, Mike F. has it correct. The controversy came when craft bartenders heard the original formula was changed from cochineal (beetle-shell derived color base) to products considered safer. Several bartenders were offended simply because the product was changed; apparently it was no longer the "real stuff", not authentic. So they began to turn to other spirit (and wine) amari.

Same thing happened with Lillet. Originally it was called "Kina-Lillet", and the common belief was that when they switched to simply Lillet, they changed the formula and sweetened it up so it came across as less bitter. (To this day, devoted craft bartenders will tell you the most proper way to make a Vesper is to sub Cocchi Americano for the Lillet---makes it closer to what Bond was actually drinking. And it does make for a superb Vesper, I will say.)

As to the appeal of the Negroni, the wisest thing I ever read about a Negroni (and therefore cannot remember who the hell wrote it) was that to become a fan of the Negroni, you must drink at least three (not all at the same time, mind you). It takes three tries to acclimate yourself to an extremely conflicting and austere drink like this. But when your mouth gets familiar with the extreme bitterness of the Campari, and perceives the intrinsic balance of the three components...you are hooked.

But that same thing is why there are endless variations of the original Negroni, substituting one or more of the three elements. I like, on occasion, a Mezcal or Tequila instead of gin. I also fondly recall experimenting with several other amari in a Negroni. Cappelletti is less intensely bitter and lighter than Campari. Cardamaro is a wine amaro using cardoons and Blessed Thistles (relatives of the artichoke family) that make for a remarkable Negroni. And so on and so on.

So even people who are already accommodated to amari need frequent....oh, hell, I don't know----re-tuning or re-introduction or establishing a base of bitter elements?....because bitters are so varied, so complex and so challenging.

But I've found the exploration is such a tremendous reward as to be totally worthwhile. Delving into amari and the search for balance in cocktails is much the same as my original love affair with wine, and for many of the same reasons.

[Jenise]

It will be interesting to see if a more traditional Negroni grows on me going forward. From everything I understand, this one--Jon described it as bitter+bitterer+bitterest--is like the expert slope on the hill and one would not be expected to warm to it without mastering the beginner and intermediate levels. He just didn't realize I/we (Bob drank and liked one, too) weren't negroni fans. We have somehow managed to appear more experienced in matters cocktail than we are.

Love bitter trio drinks!
One of my faves is equal parts Ramazzotti, Averna, and Fernet with a dash of orange bitters.

I think the book that your friend is referencing is Gaz Regan's The Negroni (which is a staple in our house) http://www.amazon.com/The-Negroni-gaz-r ... 1907434356

While bouncing around cocktail sites on the net yesterday, I came across a Negroni-ish recipe on the Medicinal Mixology website. This one involved 1-1/2 oz of gin (Tanquerey, in my case), 3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Vya), and 1 oz. of Gran Classico amaro. This was a nice twist on the classic. It was obviously more gin-forward, with the Gran Classico giving it a bitter edge rather than the more potent bitter of a regular Negroni. I'll be making more of those.

[Jenise]

Bill, that's the book. Pretty interesting that the concept of 'negroni' can, literally, fill a book.