Stanley Tucci: award-winning actor, cookbook author, film director and—now—Negroni aficionado. Tucci gave us a peek into his life in lockdown yesterday when he showed off his bartending skills on Instagram Live. In the clip, Tucci builds a boozy Negroni for his wife, Felicity Blunt, as she films the action. For obvious reasons, the internet has lost its collective mind over the cocktail tutorial.
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"We're going to make a Negroni up," Tucci begins, after asking his wife if he might be able to retrieve his glass of wine. "Mostly people have Negronis on the rocks, but I think actually they're quite nice up."
As smooth jazz plays in the background, Tucci fills a cocktail shaker with ice and adds a double shot of gin to the mix, noting that you can use vodka if that's what you prefer (how considerate). He's not as forgiving with the next ingredient: "A shot of sweet vermouth. And use a good sweet vermouth. If you can find a good sweet vermouth, that's great," he says as he pours. "You don't want to use Martini… you know that brand, Martini? It's not good." He tops off the shaker with a less judgmental shot of Campari.
What Tucci does next is considered sacrilegious by some, but we'll forgive him because he's wearing real pants and a belt (did we mention his shirt is tucked in, because it is). Most pro bartenders would tell you to gently stir the three-ingredient cocktail, but Tucci insists on shaking it—perhaps to show off his toned forearms, if we had to guess. He recuperates by serving the bitter Italian drink in a delicate coupe glass with an orange garnish.
Tucci samples the finished product before handing it off to Blunt. And in that moment, we all wish we were standing behind the camera.