[1] A delicious Negroni at Taralucci e Vino in New York City (photo © Taralucci e Vino)

[2] An idea from Irvington Restaurant in New York City: bottling a Negroni as a party favor (photo © Irvington Restaurant).

It’s time to celebrate Negroni Week. For those not immersed in cocktail culture, the Negroni is one of the classics, dating back to 1919.
 
 
NEGRONI COCKTAIL HISTORY

As the story goes, the cocktail was invented at the Bar Cassoni* in Florence, Italy by bartender Fosco Scarselli. He created it for a regular patron, Count Camillo Negroni, who had asked for an Americano cocktail strengthened with a dash of gin instead of the usual soda water.

Scarselli used an orange garnish rather than the lemon garnish of the Americano, and presented his client with a “Negroni.”

The cocktail took off, and the Negroni Family quickly founded Negroni Antica Distilleria in Treviso, producing Antico Negroni, a ready-made version of the drink.

But the cocktail was unknown in the U.S. until 1947 when Orson Welles, working in Rome, wrote about it, creating a rush to try it.
 
 
RECIPE: NEGRONI COCKTAIL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a shaker with ice.

2. STRAIN into chilled coupe or serve over ice in a chilled rocks glass. Garnish and serve.
 
 
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*Bar Cassoni became Caffè Casoni and is now called Caffè Cavalli.