For Negroni Week my second drink of the day is a Por Do Sol courtesy of Imbibe.
The recipe is:
The end result is oh so bitter with a warmth and sweetness from the Cachaca.
For Negroni Week I’m enjoying a Negroni Futurista from Gaz Regan‘s wonderful negroni book.
The recipe is:
All stirred over ice.
The end result is very bitter, dry and fruity – and very enjoyable.
In celebration of Negroni Week and the heatwave London’s having at the moment I made some Negroni Popsicles.
I used white/ yellow grapefruits hence the colour difference but they gave them an added bitterness which is great to counteract the sugar in the recipe.
These are amazing and I’ll be sure to always have some on standby this summer.
Enjoying Negroni Week with this caricature cocktail from Gaz Regan’s wonderful negroni book .The recipe is:
The result is a grapefruity Negroni with less of a bitter kick but nicely moreish
I’ve read a lot about bottle and barrel-aging drinks and finally today got around to making my own.
I’m wary of barrel-aging as I don’t want to risk any nausea brought on by a whiskey contaminated barrel so have stuck with bottle-aging.
I made a classic 1-1-1 Negroni using Only Gin (I wanted one I had enough if to make this and still have plenty left over for comparison tasting in a few months.
Now the waiting begins…
Another day, another Negroni variation.
This time the spotting of some blood orange juice when buying food led me to get to try a new recipe. With less Campari and Vermouth but 1oz of blood orange juice to make up the shortfall: this is a Blood Orange Negroni
The recipe is:
– 1oz gin
– 1/2 oz Campari
– 1/2 oz Vermouth
-1oz blood orange juice
The result is obviously very similar to a Negroni but a fresher, lighter version.
The Campari still has a kick- in fact maybe more so. I’ve come to find in these Negroni versions that use less of it the Campari stands out more rather than just being a sweet and bitter overwhelming component. The use of less of it helps it make more of an impact as a flavour component.
The juice allows the drink to be the same length but with alcohol both in its potency and taste.
Perfect as a summer version of a Negroni or want one to sip for longer without it feeling or tasting so much of an aperitif.
My second try at a beer cocktail for 52 weeks of Mixology is a Campari Shandy.
The recipe is easy:
2oz Campari
12oz beer
Lime wedge squeezed in
The taste is great- the Campari is still apparent but muted somewhat. The beer lightens and refreshes the drink and stops the Campari being so heavy or cloying.
This would be a great way to introduce someone to Campari and is a drink I’ll return to.
I’m always looking for a good bitter drink so having downloaded Diffords cocktail app and wanting something new to me I got searching for Cynar and came across the Negroni Tredici
The recipe is simple:
2 shots gin
1 shot sweet vermouth
1/4 shot Campari
1/4 shot Cynar
All stirred together with ice and garnished with orange slices
The end result is a bitter drink that resembles a Negroni but with a less sweet, more bitter-herbal taste. It goes down well but is maybe more of an acquired taste than a regular Negroni (which I absolutely love)
A visit to my sister in East London offered us the opportunity to try somewhere new to eat tonight and after a bit of Googling (and discovering the amazing phrase ‘Mareditch’ made in an effort to bring spread some of the hipster vibe from Shoreditch to Mare St) we settled on Rita’s.
I began with a Palmero (Tequila, Campari and grapefruit soda) which was refreshing, bitter and tasty. The perfect drink to cleanse my palate and whet my appetite for the food.
Rita’s cocktail menu
The Palmero
To eat I chose steak which came with horseradish sauce and a green salsa. The entire plate was delicious with the salsa and horseradish both brimming with fresh flavours and accompanying the perfectly cooked steak well.
The steak main course
As a side dish we shared green chili macaroni and cheese which was a combination that really worked with the chili adding a mild heat and fresh flavour to cut through the rich cheese sauce.
For desert we shared Dulce De Leche beignets and foie gras. The Foie Gras was shaved onto the hot beignet and melted in and its saltiness paired well with the sweet desert, when you could taste it, and although we all enjoyed it we agreed it needed more to really work.
All in all we loved the food and drink and if you’re looking for something a bit different amongst the great Turkish restaurants and the abundance of chicken shops then Rita is somewhere to head for.
It’s a hot day in London today and having spent hours travelling on buses, tubes and trains and rushing around I was in need of hydration and 5 minutes of peace.
Walking past an Italian restuarant and spotting Campari Soda bottles inside was like discovering an oasis in the desert.
bitter with a twist 