Negroni Week 2022: Mumbai mixologists share innovative recipes to make the cocktail

With bars across the world celebrating Negroni Week and the cause of slow food, mixologists share ideas for iterations of the cocktail with pantry staples

Kitchen Superstar: Recipes of the week from Mumbai’s hottest chefs

Sugaroni 

Avril Gonsalves, head mixologist, Butterfly High

Ingredients
. 30 ml campari
. 30 ml gin
. One cup sugarcane juice (for 25 ml sugarcane syrup)
. Orange zest

Method
Boil sugarcane juice slowly to a point where it turns into a sticky syrup. Shake together 25 ml sugarcane syrup, Campari, gin and the zest of an orange. Pour in an old-fashioned glass, and garnish with a grilled sugar cane stick.

Spice and rose Americano 

Kevin Rodrigues, bar manager, Yauatcha and Hakkasan

Ingredients
. 30 ml Campari
. 30 ml rosso
. 120 ml rose and spice soda
. Used Kashmiri kahwa tea leaves

Method
Re-brew the Kashmiri kahwa leaves with hot water (use more leaves and less water). Once brewed, add soda. Pour Campari and rosso in a glass. Top up with ice and add the rose and spice soda. Garnish the drink with an orange peel. 

Black tea and cardamom-infused negroni 

Shelton Fernandes, bar manager, SAZ American Brasserie 

Ingredients
. 30 ml 
black tea-infused gin 
. 30 ml cardamom-infused sweet vermouth
. 30 ml Campari
. Orange peel and cardamom pods for garnish

Method
Use a few tea bags that you brew for your morning cuppa and steep them in gin for an hour. Take some cardamom pods and muddle them into sweet vermouth. Let it soak for a day. Add all the ingredients in the above order, stir with ice and then strain into a teacup. Garnish with orange peel and cardamom pods.

Chocolate raspberry negroni 

Sonam Rai, head mixologist, Cafe Panama

Ingredients
. 45 ml gin
. 45 ml Campari
. 45 ml rosso
. Five to six raspberries
. 50 gm cocoa nibs

Method
Steep the fresh raspberries in a desired gin for at least three to four days, and soak the cocoa nibs in vermouth. In a mixing glass, add some ice and pour gin, Campari and vermouth, and stir. Now, in an old-fashioned glass, add a cube of block ice or regular ice cubes, and strain the mixture over the same. Melt some of the leftover cocoa nibs and coat the gin-infused raspberries in it. Place the coated raspberries as garnish over the ice, and enjoy.

Also Read: The upper crust: Check out some of the best pizza places in Mumbai

Negroni guide

Tip 1: Use a big-on-flavour gin so that the taste of the gin shines through in the mix. 

Tip 2: Vermouth is an essential and equal part of the negroni mix, and should not be taken lightly. Always use a high quality vermouth.  

Tip 3: The orange peel is important for its oils, and is not there to just add to the colour of the cocktail or for its visual appeal. Twist the peel to release the oils into your negroni. 

Sommelier Nikhil Agarwal, founder, All Things Nice & The Wine Cellar 

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