Negroni Week 2024 – How To Make It Your Own
Aug 29, 2024
It’s tough to argue with the fact against the popularity of the Negroni right now. Best selling cocktail in the world for 3 years running, and second best for the 8 years prior to that – like all things Italian, the Negroni is at the top of popular culture in the drinking space right now. But how did the Negroni come to be?
Born in a small city north of Milan, Gaspare Campari left for Turin at 14 to learn the art of Hospitality. Without big factories or modern equipment, all the liqueurs and concoctions of the day were made by bartenders right there in their bars. Gaspare was like a sponge and soaked up all the information he could, then armed with this new information he went back to his native Milan. Here in a few short years, he opened his very own bar and released the red hued bitter libation originally called Bitter all’uso d’hollanda. His wife later suggesting he proudly give it the family name, and thus Campari as we know it today was born.
Once created, Campari changed the way Italians drank. The new style of lower abv Aperitivo drinks became the ultimate fashion around Italy. So much so that visiting American tourists found the drinks too bitter and began adding Soda Water – the invention of The Americano. In 1919, one gentleman (Count Negroni) ordered an Americano, but with Gin instead of soda – and instantly an icon was born!
With Negroni Week entering it’s 12 year, and thousands of venues around the world taking part to do their piece in raising money for charity, Negroni Week is certainly something that can be used to drive foot traffic into your venue. But more than that, it’s an avenue that can be harnessed to help drive sales and make better margin this. Utilizing leftover citrus after juicing can make a delicious syrup to help your Kingston Negroni pop. Including a Negroni Sbagliato on the menu can help shift through the house sparkling wine before it goes flat and is wasted. There are a range of different things you can do to help grow your top line whilst balancing the bottom – and the humble Negroni can help. See below for a handful of ideas to help you get creative this year:
Negroni Sbagliato
Becoming perhaps THE viral moment of 2022, a drink created in the 1970s shot to fame and was loved the world over. Sbagliato in Italian roughly translates to “mistaken”, as the story goes the bartender accidentally put Prosecco into his Negroni instead of Gin. But this happy accident can help you save wastage. Tired of always pouring away flat house bubbles? Turn it into profit by making your house bubbles Prosecco, and including it in your Negroni list:
30ml Campari
30ml sweet Italian vermouth
90ml prosecco
Build over ice in wine glass.
Garnish with an orange.
House Negroni
Is your back bar full of dusty bottles that never seem to move? Why not use Negroni Week as an opportunity to turn some of that into cash. Make your classic Negroni with a blend of gins on the back bar. Don’t sell much Rum or Bourbon, well how about a Kingston Negroni or a Boulevardier?
The Negroni has created countless riffs and spin offs, but by using the classic combination of Campari and Sweet Vermouth, the rest is only limited by your imagination. And by calling it the House Negroni, you can be guaranteed to be unique in town as it will be completely your secret recipe!
Mulled Negroni
Winter is the season for red wines and warm drinks, and as Negroni Week, experiment with the two of them. A blend of pinot noir into the mix, a shot of Campari and vermouth into your mulled wine recipe. Replacing the gin in a classic Negroni with Sloe Gin. The possibilities here are endless, so get creative and look for unique ways to help your venue stand out and give your customers what they want.
Negroni Week runs 16th to the 22nd of September. To find out more visit https://www.negroniweek.com
