Cherry White Negroni
What makes the Cherry White Negroni so delicious? I can’t say for sure. It is a lovely drink, with a bit more complexity from less bitter components. The addition of cherry flavors adds quite a bit, although you still get the orange flavors of the original Negroni gin cocktail. Perhaps this is a summer version of the Negroni?
This recipe starts with tossing out the Campari, that famously bold and incredibly bitter Italian apéritif. Use Cocchi Americano instead! You still get the style of an apéritif, a hint of the bitter, without the wild color and potency. Dry vermouth also makes an appearance here, to add to the wine-themed ingredients.
Cherry White Negroni
Ingredients
- 2 Oz. Gin
- 1 Oz. Dry vermouth
- 1 Oz. Cocchi Americano
- 3 Dashes Cherry bitters
Instructions
- Combine all of your ingredients into your mixing glass.
- Add ice, and stir vigorously.
- Strain into your chilled rocks glass.
For another drink that uses cherry bitters and has an Italian theme, check out the Frutta e Noci!
Notes on the Cherry White Negroni
What the heck is Cocchi Americano? Well, I find it to be a fine hybrid of wine, liquor, herbs, and bitters. It technically is a wine with added bitters, which came to be with the addition of botanicals and spices. It has elements of quinine, so it partners nicely with gin. There’s a hint of bitter, but nothing like Campari, and not so herbal you are drifting into Chartreuse territory.
Start with a strong and stable London Dry gin. Most of us have a few staples to choose from. Add your Cocchi Americano, and then add a dash or two of cherry bitters. Add more to intensify the cherry flavor. I went with three dashes, you do you.
Cheers, and make good choices!