Negroni Cocktail Recipe

An early 20th-century drink inspired by Count Camillo Negroni of Italy who had picked up a taste for strong liquor while workings as a rodeo clown in the American Wild West.

The Negroni cocktail is one of the most iconic drinks in the world, renowned for its bold bitterness, perfect balance, and unmistakable Italian heritage. Its origins lie in Florence, Italy, in the early 20th century, at the height of European café culture. The most widely accepted history traces the Negroni to 1919, when Count Camillo Negroni asked a bartender at Caffè Casoni (later Caffè Giacosa) to strengthen his usual Americano cocktail. Traditionally made with Campari, sweet vermouth, and soda water, the Americano was light and refreshing. To increase its potency, the bartender replaced the soda with gin, a spirit associated with British drinking culture that the Count reportedly admired. An orange peel garnish, rather than lemon, marked the new creation.

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The result was the Negroni: a strikingly simple cocktail composed of equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. Its bold, bittersweet profile quickly gained popularity among Florence’s social elite and soon spread throughout Italy, becoming a staple of the aperitivo tradition—the pre-dinner ritual designed to stimulate the appetite.

By the mid-20th century, the Negroni had established itself as a classic, though it wasn’t until the global cocktail revival of the late 20th and early 21st centuries that it achieved international fame. Bartenders embraced its symmetry, versatility, and depth, using it as the foundation for countless variations, including the Boulevardier, Negroni Sbagliato, and White Negroni.

The Negroni

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 oz. gin

• 1 oz. Campari

• 1 oz Sweet Vermouth

• Orange peel to garnish

Assembly

Use an old-fashioned glass or lowball glass filled with ice. Combine and stir the gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari into a mixing glass filled with ice until chilled. Strain into the old-fashioned glass filled with large ice cubes. Serve with an orange peel as garnish