As an avowed lover of the Negroni, I’m always on the lookout for ways to tweak my favorite cocktail. But it’s hard to improve on perfection! I’ve tried to the trend for different ratios (remember when everyone was using 2 parts gin to 1 part vermouth and 1 part Campari?), the trend of Negroni Sbagliato (and to be fair, that is a great drink too), and swapping in everything from rum to tequila in place of the gin.
But if there’s one way to vary the Negroni which I would have to say is my favorite, it’s the versions which keep the same three classic ingredients in their equal ratios, but add an infusion to one of them. I still think about the Negroni with grapefruit-infused Campari I had in a scruffy bar in Berlin, and I used to swear by a chocolate-infused vermouth version that I made at home.
So I’m delighted to see this variation from gin brand The Botanist, which adds flavors of coffee. That seems like the perfect match to the drink’s bold, bitter flavors. And it uses coffee in a really smart way — by infusing the vermouth using spent coffee grounds, which are still full of flavor but would otherwise go to waste. This one is going into my rotation immediately.
The Botanist Coffee Negroni
Ingredients:
- 1.5oz The Botanist
- .75oz sweet vermouth
- .75oz coffee-infused Campari
Method:
- Using spent coffee grounds, measure 1 tablespoon grounds per 8oz of Cmpari. Combine and let infuse overnight. Fine strain coffee grounds before use.
- Combine ingredients in a mixing glass over ice.
- Stir and strain into rocks glass with a large ice cube.
- Garnish with an orange peel.
