The Art Of An At-Home Negroni

Everything about the negroni screams danger. From its bitter taste to its ruby hue, this is a drink that means business. It’s one that should come with a warning, proclaimed the late chef Anthony Bourdain, a self-confessed negroni fan, who even with his wild ways was not immune to the potent potential of the tipple. “Those things hit you like a freight train after four or five,” he warned, noting that a negroni had led him astray on more than one occasion. 

But aren’t we all looking for a little more danger in our lives? A welcome reprieve from the Aperol Spritz trend which flooded Australia (and much of Instagram) in recent years? Forget punchy tangerine, the racy red negroni is here. Of course the scarlet red tipple is nothing new. As rumour has it, it was concocted in the 1920s by an Italian bartender whose customer demanded something far stronger than what an Americano could offer. And while, yes, the combination may seem rather foolproof (it is after all just a polyamorous marriage between gin, vermouth, and campari) there’s something about the construction of a negroni at home that often proves too intimidating. But the negroni is a simple beast to tame, say the country’s collection of experts.