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East India Negroni

By Jim Meehan

4.7

(3)

Photo of rumbased Negroni cocktail riff with orange twist in rock glass.

I created this rum-based riff on the Negroni in the fall of 2009.

Rum typically stars in Cuban and Tiki cocktails, so I chose the Negroni as my inspiration to open bartenders’ minds to rum’s versatility. East India sherry is a blend of oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherries that are aged in a hot, humid bodega in a special solera that mimics the conditions the wine would have undergone during transatlantic journeys of the seventeenth century. Cook’s ship would have stocked sherries like this one, which stands in for sweet vermouth quite admirably.

Notes

This drink's name makes East India sherry the key ingredient here. If you’re going to sub the rum, I’d choose an English-style rum with some barrel age, such as Appleton Reserve or Mount Gay Black Barrel. Martini, Luxardo, and Contratto bitters mix well, but you’ll have an easier time sourcing Campari.

Ingredients

2 oz. Banks 5-Island rum
0.75 oz. Lustau East India Solera sherry
0.75 oz. Campari
Garnish: 1 orange twist

Preparation

  1. Stir with ice, then strain into a chilled rocks glass filled with one large ice cube. Garnish with the orange twist.

Photo of Meehan's Bartender Manual book cover
Reprinted with permission from Meehan’s Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan, copyright © 2017 by Mixography Inc. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Buy the full book from Amazon.
TagsCocktailAlcoholBeveragesNegroniAperitifCampariAmaroLiqueurSherryRumQuickEasy5 Ingredients or FewerCookbooks

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