Jane Frye of Tasting Table reports, in Italian Job Frozen Negronis are this summer's frosé — "Walk into any bar or restaurant these days, and you're likely to spot someone sipping a bright-red Negroni. The Italian aperitif's mix of gin, vermouth and Campari make it the perfect classic cocktail for easing into (or out of) the night—and people can't seem to get enough." More
Negroni's were super hot a few summers ago, and they seem to have dropped out of favor. But it looks like frozen version has got Negronis back into the limelight.
Everyone loves the boundless yet tasteful Italian creativity, like this unique Gin distilled with lemons and a blood orange Amaro which I used to make this Negroni with a favorite sweet white vermouth.
Malfy is the first Italian gin I have ever encountered. I was very excited to try it and create an all Italian Negroni! . It is very smooth, well balanced and the lemon aroma and flavor is delightful.
I had always thought that Gin originated in Holland in the 17th century, but the Vergnano family who distills this Gin in Moncalieri, Italy, professes that Gin was actually invented in Italy in the 11th century by monks on the Salerno coast. They added Ginepro (Juniper) and other botanicals to the alcohol - and gin was born. I tend to believe them.
On the Malfy web site they offer this cocktail recipe.
An indispensable cocktail hailing from Italy. With Malfy Gin it can be made with all Italian ingredients!
1 ½ ounces - MALFY Gin ¾ ounce Campari ¾ ounce dry Italian vermouth
Shake well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of orange peel.
I am not a huge fan of Campari, especially since they started accomplishing its distinctive red color with food coloring instead of Carmine—a potent dye derived from crushed cochineal beetles. So I used Amara the wonderful amaro made with blood oranges in Sicily. I could see using any good amaro with this gin. I also used a sweet instead of a dry vermouth although I intend to try it wit a dry next time.
The history of the Negroni is uncertain, but we have researched it well. Not just where it began, but how this exemplary cocktai has emerged over almost 100 years to become the wildly popular drink that is today...
Count Camillo Negroni
As to its origin, the most prevalent story is that it was first created in Florence, Italy in 1919, at Caffè Casoni, an antique shop/bar, (think Il Buco) where now Caffè Giacosa is found.
As the story goes Count Camillo Negroni asked bartender Fosco Scarselli to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the Americano, by adding gin instead of the typical soda water. Fosco distinguished the drink with an orange garnish rather than the typical lemon.
A Brief History of the Negroni
Count Pascal Olivier Negroni
Of course like most tales in Italy there is another version of the story. In his one it is told that the drink was invented in 1857 in the West African country of Senegal by Corsican General Pascal Olivier de Negroni. They say he created a drink to aide his new wife’s digestion lifting the drink to toast to her health on their wedding day.
Negroni family lays claim to namesake cocktail
Sorry Pascal, with no disrespect, we are going with the Italian Count Camillo version.