Today’s drink is of course no real new creation but merely a variant of the much-valued Negroni. In many contexts I have not become tired of repeating that the Negroni is my all-time favorite cocktail (together with the Mint Julep) and I guess there is no drink I am having more often. That should also explain why I am consistently fascinated by different varieties of this drink (I listed some cool varieties in my article about the Negroni). Yet today’s version is very simple, since it is identical to the original in terms of proportions. Nonetheless it is an absolutely top notch drink, I think!
This judgment unfortunately contains a certain degree of self-congratulation since this version is one of my own creations, so I hope you will overlook that and forgive me. I cannot even write that much about the drink because there is neither a particularly interesting or funny story of origin for this cocktail, nor have I felt that it deserved a particularly stand-out name on its own. I simply called it “Blood Orange Negroni” because that simply describes the soul this Cocktails best. Now I know there are a lot of drinks out there under this name in the vastness of the Internet and on cocktail menus throughout the world, but these are mostly made with the addition of blood orange juice or flavored soda. Both are ingredients that in my opinion have no place in a Negroni. Here I am fairly purist and would therefore simply deny that such recipes are what I would call a Negroni. So accordingly I also don’t think they should be called a Blood Orange Negroni.
The Blood Orange Negroni I’d like to present here however really deserves the name because it relies on ingredients that do completely without soda, syrup or even juices. The heart of my recipe is represented by the Blutorange aus Sizilien by Faude Freine Brände, which replaces the gin in the cocktail. Of course, this takes some of the floral-herbaceous notes off the Negroni that would regularly come with the gin in the cocktail, but on the other hand it enriches the drink with an intensely aromatic blood orange that also has complex bitter notes. And just these bitter notes are forwarded by Mondino Amaro Bavarese which also provides an own orange character with its Italian Arancia Amara. But of course this Bavarian-Baden-Württemberg Duo creates no pure orange cocktail. There also has to be a little Italy in a Negroni and finally the drink is called “Blood Orange Negroni” what of course involves the word “Negroni”: Together with the Carpano Antica Formula very familiar and complex spice and bitter notes remain in the cocktail and perfectly match the Mondino Amaro. Red vermouth also works great with the Blutorange aus Sizilien. Above that I did not intend to change the simple original recipe with its three equal parts because the cocktail is meant to also prove what a good Negroni just proves (and what really is important to me): It does not always need a lot of fuss to create a world-class drink.
Recipe:
2 cl Faude Feine Brände Blutorange aus Sizilien
2 cl Mondino Amaro Bavarese
2 cl Carpano Antica Formula
(Blood orange zest)
Preparation: Mix all ingredients in a glass filled with ice cubes and stir. Then sprinkle with the oil of the blood orange zest and discard the zest.
Glass: Tumbler
Garnish: dried blood orange wheel
Buying sources: The ingredients will usually force you to visit a specialized retailer (or to simply order them online).
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