BarWorldwide · Drinks feature
How the negroni became everyone's favourite blueprint
Top bartenders on why the classic endures, and how far it can bend.
The story goes that in 1919, at Caffè Casoni in Florence, Count Camillo Negroni asked for his Americano with gin in it. A century later, the negroni is everywhere, and bartenders are taking it apart and rebuilding it in all kinds of ways.
Ryan Chetiyawardana, known as Mr Lyan, traces the boom to around 2017, when the Aperol spritz took aperitivo culture global, and to a pandemic-era moment when people argued online about how Stanley Tucci made his. Lorenzo Antinori of Bar Leone says the drink captures the joy of gathering over food and drinks. Both agree its history gives bartenders the confidence to play.
The basic structure is simple: a spirit, something bitter and an aromatised wine. Jean Trinh of Alquímico in Cartagena sees it as a framework rather than a recipe, and makes one with house mead, blackberry and limoncello. Swapping the gin for mezcal, tequila, calvados or cachaça is common now, and the white negroni, made with Lillet and Suze, has become a style of its own. At Opium in Bangkok, founder KK Hoontrakul softens the bitterness for local tastes with twists featuring wintergreen, cassia and lavender.
In Milan, it's still a sacred ritual. Camparino in Galleria remains the place to start.
Our summary of a story from The 50, published 25 September 2026. Read the original
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From The 50