With it being the start of Negroni Week, we thought we’d dive into the history of this popular classic cocktail. Uncovering the story behind the iconic bittersweet drink - from its romantic beginnings in a café in Florence to being served in pretty much every cocktail bar in the world!
Who invented the Negroni?
The most widely believed origin story of the Negroni, is that it was created over 100 years ago in 1919, by a regular named Count Camillo Negroni. The setting was Caffè Casoni in Florence and the Count supposedly asked his friend, Bartender Fosco Scarselli, to make his favourite cocktail - the Americano - a little stronger. Fosco swapped out the usual soda water with gin and also added an orange garnish, rather than the lemon that is usually served with an Americano.
The drink, made with equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari became the Count’s usual order and before long other customers were asking for the same. Over time the cocktail became known simply as a Negroni - and the rest is history.
But, according to the Negroni family, there was no Count Camillo Negroni at all and instead they have credited a General Pascal Oliver Comte de Negroni with the creation. The Frenchman is said to have introduced his signature vermouth based cocktail to the Lunéville officers club in Senegal in 1857 - even having letters to back up the claim.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Boulevardier was created in Paris two years before the Negroni. A remarkably similar recipe using Bourbon instead of gin, is surely too much of a coincidence!
The true story of the Negroni? We may never know.
The Negroni and its famous fans
Over the years the Negroni has gathered some pretty noteworthy drinkers, including Orson Welles - who made one of the first well-documented comments on the cocktail, when he tried it in 1947 while on location filming Black Magic in Rome.
“The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other.”
Ernest Hemingway was another who even included the cocktail in his novel Across the River and Into the Trees in 1950.
Audrey Hepburn apparently served Negronis at her Rome house parties while filming Roman Holiday and James Bond even drank a Negroni when he wasn't in the mood for a Martini.
Our take on the Negroni
There are many variations on the original Negroni recipe including a Negroni Spagliato and a White Negroni - both of which are just as delicious. But for our pre-bottled cocktail version we wanted to add a touch of the Wye Valley, so we threw in some locally foraged damsons to our very own Wye Valley Gin.
Our Damson Negroni is made with a special blend of Vermouths, Wye Valley Gin infused with ripe damsons from just up the road and Campari. And each bottle contains 5 large servings.
Buy the Damson Negroni bottled cocktail here.
