Negroni For You by the Careless Drinker

 

Negroni For You

 

There are too many cocktails to count and new ones keep popping up.  I usually stick with the tried and true, but there are exceptions. Lately, I came across one that attracted me. Maybe it was the way she held her glass, or the sweet smile and the color of her eyes……no, wait a second, that must have been after my second cocktail. But, that doesn’t really matter because she sure as hell wasn’t smiling at me. She must have been old enough to drink, maybe. At least I thought so, and the four guys surrounding her, who could have been male models straight out of GQ, thought so.

 

But, let me step out of my dreams of long ago and get to telling you about my new favorite cocktail, the Negroni.  Best I’ve been able to find out, the Negroni came from Florence, Italy and got popular in the 1940s or 50s.  But, others swear it came from France in the 1920s. 

 

Who cares?  What’s important is it’s very popular in my house, as of last night.

 

Easy to make. Hard to resist.

 

Simple: Equal parts gin, red vermouth, and Campari, tossed in an ice shaker,  poured in your favorite cocktail glass, and then add a twist of your favorite citrus.  I favor orange peel, squeezed.  

 

I’m also particular about which gin (Plymouth, the best gin since 1793, England) and which vermouth (Martini & Rossi, 1863, Italy), not to forget the world’s best aperitivo (Campari, 1860, by Gaspare Campari, Milan, Italy).

 

See, the Careless Drinker likes to know what he’s drinking and where it came from and why he’s drinking…..although he sometimes forgets the latter. Still, he always remembers the smiles and the eyes, and the long gone years when they were directed at him.

 

Cheers! Prost! Salut! Chin-Chin! À votre santé!