FYI: This is an archive of my Tonight's Negroni email newsletter.
Disclosure: If you'd like to relive my writing experience for this one, follow these steps:
- Skip to the drink recipe.
- Make a drink (it doesn't have to the be the one in the recipe, silly!).
- Come back up and read until the prompt to watch the 25 minute GWU commencement speech by José Andrés.
- Make another drink.
- Read the rest.
OK, so enough with the "think pieces" about what we do with the free time we are lucky enough to have.
Instead, let's get to some brass tacks solutioneering about things we can do to enjoy that free time as effectively as bloody well possible!
To that end, we will revisit a few topics covered previously:
OMG!!! Go watch José Andrés!!!
AHEM... Topics, previously covered...
- The Negroni itself and why it's awesome.
- The whole collecting thing, though it's optional if you follow my prescription.
- Motherfucking ratios, y'all!
It turns out there are stages to a person's development as a Stay at Home Bartender.
Step One is you become known for making a hell of a cocktail at your own home. Makes sense.
Step Two is you start bringing bottles to events to which you are invited so that you can mix fancy cocktails. It starts our selfish: You don't want to settle for whatever the hosts are offering. It turns into a kind of showing off: You norms don't drink like this in your house!
Step Three is the compromise: You bring pre-mixed, bottled cocktails to events.
I'm actually letting you into a deep dark area of my existence right now... Because having people say "OMG! You brought bottled cocktails to our barbeque?!" is basically equivalent to "OMG! You drink how much and how often?!"
If you think about it from a stay at home bartender's point of view, it makes perfect sense. Why mix at the party? That's distracting! Mix before-hand and let people pour their own perfect cocktails!
This is where the previously covered topics comes in:
The Negroni and its variants are perfect for this because of its 1:1:1 ratio - You can just mix three bottles of booze and you're done! (The number of bottles you actually transport to the soirée depends on how many people are being entertained. You can always keep some for yourself.) The collecting bit comes in only if you are worried about having presentable bottles to deliver at the party. If not, you can just refill the bottles you emptied to mix the batch. It's actually a nice way to display your recipe.
Here's one you could rock if you really wanted to impress everyone:
Amber Negroni
Noilly Prat's Ambre vermouth has been popping up a lot as of late, so of course I got curious. Finally I found some at Denver's greatest little boutique liquor store, The Proper Pour, so of course I commenced my experimentations. This recipe is by far better than any "White" Negroni I've ever tried. If you know you like Suze, do this.
- 1oz Gin (Try Sipsmith, it's great!)
- 1oz Suze
- 1oz Noilly Prat Ambre vermouth
- Put your boozes in a rocks glass.
- Add rocks.
- Stir it.
- Drink it.
- Repeat.