History of the Negroni Cocktail

It may seem counterintuitive, but the essential technique of bartending is ‘less is more’. Not in terms of quantity, but rather when it comes to the practice of recipe building. As with cooking, a lot of people get hung up on the idea that you need to have a wide variety of ingredients in order to make something delicious. We’ve come to find that it is usually the opposite that tends to be true. This, however, does not mean that throwing together any random few ingredients will yield a tasty cocktail. The notion of ‘less is more’ is based off of two incredibly important and subtle rules. Firstly, use only high-quality ingredients and second, demand the absolute most out of those ingredients.

There may not be a single cocktail that more accurately portrays this than the Negroni. Simple, stylish, and stiff, the Negroni is second to none in its ability to please the patrons of gin joints around the world. A classic of the cocktail renaissance, the Negroni has gained an international reputation and solidified itself in the hall of fame of cocktails, between the Martini and the Old Fashioned. Just like the rest of its hall of fame class, the Negroni has a strict recipe to adhere to in order to call itself by that historic name. But then again, not all gins are created equal, and because of this, some wiggle room in the recipe is required in order to meet our standards.

The idea of the Negroni being the perfect cocktail comes from the harmony that occurs between its three ingredients. Gin is traditionally bold and in need of additional bold flavours in equal measure to achieve a balance. But not our gin. Heretic Gin is silky smooth, and can stand alone as a fan favourite, so the idea that it needs to be disciplined by equal parts of Campari and sweet vermouth is redundant. Instead, we use two parts gin to one part Campari and one part sweet vermouth.

For us, and our superior gin, this is the ideal ratio for achieving what we consider balance. Since we can’t call it a Negroni, we call it by a name that captures the essence of its stability while paying respect to its Italian heritage: Equilibrato. It’s the epitome of bittersweet and is tied together with a gin that stands head and shoulders above the rest. No need for a food pairing with this cocktail, because Equilibrato acts as an exquisite aperitif for any meal. Simply stir, serve, and savour.