Sometimes I feel like this site should be called: Stir and Strain… a site for one million Negroni cocktails. But here’s the thing! They’re so good! And they also bottle nicely since they’re all booze. So let me explain why we’re talking about this oh-so-simple bottled cocktail today.
It’s October, the time where you suddenly realize it’s about to get BUSY. Like, you suddenly have no weekends. There’s parties, there’s apple picking sessions followed by pumpkin picking trips followed by parent-teacher conferences followed by Friendsgiving then real Thanksgiving and then BAM. It’s just black out time until about the second week of January.
I see all this coming down the road. I see drinking a sub-par wine that’s been left in the fridge from a cookie decorating party two weeks prior because you’re juggling making a turkey with, you know, life. It worries me. So, while I still have moments of my sanity left, and some moments of leisure (like, when I give my kids a 600 count sticker book and say have at it) I decided I should batch up my cooking/happy hour cocktail of choice, a Negroni.
Now, while most bottled cocktails might be chilled and enjoyed as is, I always prefer a Negroni over an ice cube. Keeping that in mind, when I bottle up a Negroni, guess what? I don’t account for water dilution. I definitely do for some bottled cocktails, but here, I know I’ll pour it on ice and give it a stir because if I was making this on demand, I would just build it in the glass over the ice anyways. See… simple!
So, before the holiday crush hits you, whip up a few bottles and store them in your fridge. They’ll keep awhile and when you just can’t with that $4 handle of vodka someone left from your Halloween party, you’ll have this drink waiting for you.
And, as I know I have a variety of levels of expertise on here, if this is too simple a bottled cocktail for you, I highly suggest you check out the two linked above!
The Simplest Bottled Negroni Cocktail
Approximately 4-5 servings
4 ounces Campari
4 ounces sweet vermouth
4 ounces gin, your choice but I went with a London Dry here
- In a swing top bottle, combine Campari, sweet vermouth, and gin. Seal and refrigerate.
- When ready to enjoy, pour approximately 2-1/4 to 3 ounces over an ice cube in a rocks glass. Enjoy!
Here in Los Angeles I’ve been downing frozen cocktails with abandon, but there are even those days when I just can’t drag out the blender. So, in steps the two ingredient cocktail.
While you could make this a one ingredient drink and have it poured over ice, I like to make this a highball (or lowball depending on the glass type I’m using) by mixing it with soda water over ice. It’s really an any time kinda drink: before going out, after a meal, during your kid’s nap…