This year marks the fifth year of Negroni Week, a worldwide charity event created by Imbibe magazine and Campari to raise money for various charitable causes. Taking place from June 5-11, the event is joined by over 7,000 restaurants and bars across the world, with Hyde, Coppersmith and Skullduggery among the 18 participating bars in KL.
To help you best appreciate a glass, here’s a rundown of the Negroni’s origins, and what KL’s bars are doing to help you drink your way to charity.
The history of the Negroni
The Negroni is a dead-simple cocktail comprising equal amounts of gin, Campari and red vermouth that’s combined in an ice-filled heavy tumbler, stirred until cold, and garnished with an orange wheel or twist. The story behind it, however, isn’t as simple. The origins of the drink can be traced back to the 1860s in Northern Italy, where the drink Milano-Torino was created at Caffe Campari in Milan. The owner Gaspare Campari made it as a simple aperitivo – a drink typically enjoyed after work and before dinner – comprising equal parts Campari (from Milan) and Amaro Cora (a sweet vermouth from Turin). Around the late 19th century, the drink became a hit among Americans who – perhaps finding it a little too punchy – added a dash of soda water, and in doing so created the Americano.
According to drink writer Alice Lascelles in Ten Cocktails, the Negroni was created around 1920 by Count Camillo Negroni, a Florentine socialite and gambler who asked the bartender at Caffè Casoni (now named Caffè Giacosa) in Florence to swap out soda for an equal part of gin. Others followed and asked for ‘one of Count Negroni's drinks’ – which later became the Negroni.
Since then, the cocktail has evolved to include other variations, the precursor of which is the Negroni Sbagliato (‘bungled Negroni’ in Italian), which was created after a bartender in Milan’s Bar Basso mistook a bottle of prosecco for gin while mixing a Negroni.
What’s special during Negroni Week
There’s no better time to enjoy the Negroni than this week, when most participating bars have devised their own variations of the classic cocktail. For those who love their cocktails with a well-rounded, oaky finish, have the barrel-aged Negronis served at Coppersmith (Campari, gin, Cinzano 1757, aged in heavy charred new American oak barrel), Skullduggery (Colombian Ortodoxy Gin, Del Professore Torino Vermouth and Campari, aged in char-prepared virgin American oak casks) and The Vault KL (Cynar, Campari, Cinzano Rosso, Carpano Antica Formula rosso and dry gin, aged in a Campari oak Barrel).
Other exotic variations can be found at Omakase + Appreciate, which has the Asamboi Negroni (a classic Negroni with sweet-sour asam boi); Hyde, which has the Rose Tea Negroni (Citadelle Gin infused with French Rose Vanilla Tea, Campari and Carpano Antica Formula rosso); and Mr Chew’s Chino Latino Bar, which has the Chino (Campari, ginseng-infused sweet vermouth, local rice wine and 18-year-old shaoxing wine).
For a full list of participating bars and their featured drinks, visit negroniweek.com.