Hopped Negroni

Although I’ve been toying with hop-infused booze for some time, it was the cold-drip Negroni at – deep breath – Enrique’s School for to Bullfighting that convinced me to get a move on. It also steered me towards a bit of drink-making kit I already had in the cupboard and was familiar with: ye olde Vietnamese coffee filter (I should also mention that David Nguyen-Luu had a cocktail on the Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth menu that also involved the same filters, but alas, I'm yet to road-test it). If you haven’t got one, a visit to Tran’s Emporium or your nearest Asian supermarket is a must. You’ll be able to pick up a complete kit consisting of filter, tray, tamp and lid for less than a fiver. As well as allowing you to explore the wonderful world of hop-enhanced cocktails, you’ll also be able to brew your own condensed milk-enriched Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da) in the mornings.

Like all things Negroni-related, don’t think of this as a set-in-stone recipe, but more of a suggested itinerary. From the type of hops and the amount used to the spirits and their ratios, there’s plenty of room for creativity. I might mention, however, that opting for a drier, more restrained vermouth (ie not Antica Formula) would probably help accentuate this drink’s bitter notes. In this instance, I reached for a bottle of Cocchi Vermouth di Torino rather than my usual Negroni vermouth-of-choice, Dolin Rouge.

And now, the hops. Before beer geeks don their battle flannel, I’m no home brewer. This drink is about taking one (a la mode) aspect of brewing and incorporating it in the fine art of making drinks. Perhaps there are more appropriate hops for this exercise. I'd be stoked if there was. But as a starting point, I’m chuffed with how nicely the Negroni played with the Saaz hops I'd bought from my local homebrew store. Straight out the bag, the hop pellets are a little too big to work in the filter so they'll need to be grounded down with a mortar and pestle (ground the pellets till the hops are about the same coarseness as, funnily enough, Vietnamese coffee). While I’ve settled on a ratio of one heaped tablespoon of crushed hops to 90ml of (undiluted) Negroni, feel free to get as oppy as you like. My advice, however, is start small and, if necessary, pass the drink back through the filter. Like the old cooking adage goes, it’s easier to put seasoning in than take it out.

Best of all, once you get this technique down pat, you can use it to flavour other drinks, perhaps using flowers that are local, in-season and not shipped in from elsewhere on the planet. Also, a disclaimer of sorts: while Google searches for “hopped Negroni” didn’t unearth much, this technique isn't new new and I'll willingly acknowledge that people have been flavouring booze since the advent of distillation. Still, it's relatively straight-forward and doesn't require anything woundingly expensive. And if it adds a new string to your drink-making bow, I'm happy. Oh, and I’m pleased to report it tasted how I hoped it would. Resiny hop aromatics with a pronounced bitterness to the usual Negroni flavour profile. Good luck and keen to hear any thoughts you might have.

Hopped Negroni

30ml Tanqueray 10 gin
30ml Cocchi Vermouth di Torino

30ml Campari

1 heaped tablespoon of crushed Saaz hop pellets

Stir gin, vermouth and Campari over ice for 15 seconds. Strain into a Vietnamese coffee filter filled with crushed hops and allow liquid to slowly pass through (this should take around four minutes). Pour hopped Negroni into a rocks glass with two large cubes of ice. Serve at once.

Ce Soir Improvisé

Who likes cocktail recipes? Little surprise I do. Found this in the current edition of Imbibe (this US magazine is a must for anyone that enjoys their drinking) and courtesy of a fortuitously stocked liquor cabinet, had most of the ingredients at hand, save for the Cynar. No biggie, just tag in Campari - pretty much another non-negotiable for boozers - and all's well.

If you're into Negronis or their Bourbon-bolstered relative, the Boulevardier, odds are you'll enjoy this. Rich, herbal and downright delicious, it's a base recipe I'm looking forward to messing around with more, not to mention exploring the world of cognac - territory that I'm shamefully not all that familiar with.

Ce Soir Improvisé
(Adapted - and frankly bastardised - from a recipe by Nicole Lebedevitch of The Hawthorne, as published in issue 37 of Imbibe magazine)

45ml cognac
22.5ml Campari
15ml yellow Chartreuse
1 dash orange bitters

Combine ingredients in ice-filled mixing glass and stir for 30 seconds until chilled and combined. Strain into a glass and garnish with a twist of orange.

Bottle-aged Negroni experiment

On New Year’s Eve, I began a little experiment to see what sort of effect, if any, temperature has on bottle-ageing negronis. I’ve been pleased with the results of the bottle of negroni I began ageing in August 2010 and quite like the mellowing effect time in bottle has on the majestic trinity of gin, vermouth and Campari

If you’re a stickler for due scientific procedure, point your browsers elsewhere. This was spur of the moment stuff and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t mix close to two litres of negroni simply to empty dregs of various bottles that were strewn about the house.

The gin component was largely Gordon’s with the remaining balance made up of Bombay and Gabriel Boudier saffron gin (I still don’t get that gin) while the vermouth mix was a blend of Antico Rosso and Antica Formula. Campari is Campari (part of me has always wanted to try switching the Campari for Bolognese Amaro Montenegro and seeing what happens, but that’s for another time). Half a litre of each spirit was poured into a bucket, mixed, and then carefully poured back into bottles of gin to be put away – one in the fridge, the other under the stairs where I keep my wine.

Four-ish months later and out they come, poured over ice and stirred vigorously to try and bring the “cellar” negroni to typical drinking temperature while cutting the drinks a little. Each was given about three minutes to rest before being looked at. I was actually surprised by how noticeable the differences between the two were.

Fridge-aged: Very floral and citrus-spiked aromas, suggesting a lighter drink. Not the case, the mouthfeel and texture of the drink still quite thick. Taste-wise, very similar to a typical negroni, although certainly more mellow.

Cellar-aged: Ah shay, indeed. Lots sweeter on the nose, it almost smells caramel-like. Similar rich mouth-feel as its fridge-aged sibling, but those bitter wormwood and gentian elements of the vermouth really sit up on the finish. I daresay the cellar-aged negroni also ends with a longer drag of flavour than the fridge-aged version.

My gut feeling is that, similar to wine, keeping things cool keeps things fresher while warmth hurries things up some (think cool fermentation versus a warm fermentation). Complexity is all good and well, but to me that fresh, invigorating kick of a negroni is one of the characteristics of the drink I really enjoy, so short of trying to find lighter vermouths (or experiment more with other spirits in place of the ol’ Punt e Mes), negronis left to age in a cooler temperature are looking like my bottle-conditioned gin, Campari and vermouth cocktail of choice.