The Making of Bob’s Liquorice Bitters

Bob told me a bit about the genesis of this bitters:

“The Liquorice Bitters have become a popular ingredient for the British bartender.  Originally, a bartender I have worked with in the past asked me if there was anything on the market using liquorice and, as I was not aware of any such product, I decided to try to create my own.  It is an excellent mixer with rum, whisky, gin, and Galliano (as this contains liquorice).”

And how is this bitters made? Seemingly quite easily, from what Bob says. He essentially just steeps licorice root in neutral grain alcohol. However, a trained hand, trial and error, and strategic timing must come into play with this “bespoke” bitters:

“The main challenge was to capture the natural bittersweetness of the root.  Toward the end of the maceration period when the bitter element was introduced, the main challenge was to ensure that it did not become too bitter. This would detract from the natural liquorice flavor.”

Liquorice? Really?

I personally don’t care much for the flavor of licorice–that cloying bitterness shared with anise and fennel–but was pleasantly surprised by the subtle part the root played in this simultaneously sweet and woody mixture.  Bob explains further:

“Contrary to popular belief, the anise and liquorice plants are actually not related and their flavors differ.  Anethole is the compound found in both plants and this is very aromatic, hence the similar scent from the two.  Liquorice is naturally sweet; in fact it is sweeter than sugar.  Often when candies are made using liquorice, aniseed oil is added to enhance the flavor; however, in its natural form liquorice has a milder flavor.”

The singularity of Bob’s Bitters goes beyond the flavors themselves. The packaging, particularly the uniquely shaped dropper, is something all its own.

“As you are aware, the range of Bob’s Bitters are very concentrated; therefore it was essential that measurements could be precise when adding to cocktails.  With regards to the pipette and bottle, these give the impression of a tonic from the Victorian era. The kiwi on the label partly came from the vision of the shape of the pipette as well as the fact that the New Zealand kiwi has a very acute sense of smell, which in turn relates to the aromatic scent of each of the Bob’s Bitters flavor range.”

Liquorice Bitters in Context

Liquorice is probably not a flavor most American bartenders are accustomed to using. Bob recommends using it just as you would use Angostura bitters in an Old Fashioned. For the aspiring mixologist, Bob sent me a recipe developed by Ago Perrone, bartender for London’s luxury hotel The Connaught:

Martini L’Autentico

⅓ oz Galliano l’Autentico
½ oz Tio Pepe (dry sherry)
1 shot Bols Genever
½ tsp Liquorice Bitters

Stir over ice then strain. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Bob hasn’t played around with using his Liquorice Bitters in food yet, but he theorizes it could make for a nice vinaigrette–a notion I’ve since successfully put to the test. Home-made cinnamon buns brushed with a glaze containing several droppers-full is also nice.

Bob’s Liquorice Bitters and his other artisan bitters,  can be found online at The Meadow and are open to taste in both of our shops. Check out Bob’s Abbotts Bitters, Bob’s Cardamom Bitters, Bob’s Chocolate Bitters, Bob’s Coriander Bitters, Bob’s Ginger Bitters, Bob’s Grapefruit Bitters, Bob’s Lavender Bitters, Bob’s Orange & Mandarin Bitters, Bob’s Peppermint Bitters, and Bob’s Vanilla Bitters.

New varieties of bitters are coming on the market every day. Nowhere are both the growth and diversity of the bitters world more evident than with Orange Bitters. We decided to sit down around the benches outside The Meadow with a gaggle of employees and cocktail aficionados to get to the bottom of this delicious subject.

Orange bitters are the most versatile and popular flavor of bitters. The orange plays beautifully off the herbaceous botanicals of gin, lifts up the treacle-spiciness of rum, and ensnares the fiery caramel flavors of good bourbon. More importantly, in today’s ever-expanding landscape of cocktails, orange bitters sharpen the flavors of ingredients that might otherwise might be uncooperative or ungainly. In other words, orange bitters not only adds complexity to an already good cocktail, a dash here and there can also fix one that, try as you might, just doesn’t add up.

All that being said, not all orange bitters are created equal. Some are one-note, some are intriguingly multifaceted, some are bitter, some are less so, or not at all. It starts with a bitters maker’s choice of base alcohol. Though a neutral grain alcohol like Everclear is probably most common, one may opt for rum, whiskey, gin, etc. Some may eschew alcohol altogether in favor of glycerin–a choice some believe ultimately disqualifies the resulting product as a bitters. The bittering agents too can vary. Gentian root extract is the most prevalent, but others include quassia, calamus, and angelica root–or any combination of one or more of them.

Then there are the rest of the flavoring agents.

In orange bitters as with any bitters, fragrant roots, herbs, spices, barks, fruits, or even meats–forsooth, bacon-flavored bitters do exist. It might be a simple, single-note recipe, or a wild compendium of diverse flavors. Different brands of orange bitters derive characteristic flavors not just from the different varietals of orange and citrus, but also the different parts of the fruit: blossom, peel, pith, flesh, juice, etc.

Maceration, where the ingredients are steeped in alcohol, will also vary from producer to producer. Because orange peel might need to steep for longer than gentian, a producer might opt to macerate each ingredient separately, and then combine the results in controlled proportions. Most prefer to do everything in a single batch, allowing all the ingredients to marry more harmoniously, though perhaps adding some of the more fragile ingredients later in the process.

All the permutations of ingredients and different approaches to maceration allow for nearly endless possible outcomes of sweet, bitter, spicy, pungent, and sour.

At The Meadow our selection of bitters is constantly growing—and these days, growing rapidly. The social circles of mixologists and cocktail professionals are not in want of creative minds, most of which have developed their own take on the classic orange bitters. With so many choices on our table of bitters, picking an orange one can seem more difficult than it ought to be. I decided to compare them all side by side not only to help out curious customers, but also to keep them straight in my own head.

Angostura Orange – Clear in color, this is one strong tincture. It’s like chewing on an orange peel: intense, bitter orange oil, extraordinarily complex with prevalent herbaceous and floral tones. A nice, light nose of orange blossom. The complexity of this bitters makes it the right choice for bolstering sweeter alcohols like rum, or maybe whisky or gin, or at least an equally complex and spicy vermouth or aperitif like Bonal, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, or even Oregon’s own Imbue. Anything else might be easily overpowered by Angostura Orange.

Bittercube Orange – Not a very bitter bitters, this one tastes of candied orange peel with hints of mint, or maybe even vanilla and chamomile (though the bottle says cardamom and coriander). The first thing to hit the nose is astringent alcohol but it’s quickly followed by orange zest. Its sweetness is perfectly balanced out by its bitterness, making this a fantastically versatile bitters, especially for crafted, viscous cocktails.

Bitter Tears “Lucille” Blood Orange Ginger – Right up front is a muted orange taste, followed by a smoky ginger that hints at savoriness with more herbaceous than floral notes. The nose starts off as cinnamon and then morphs into an astringent orange pith and can definitely hold its own when used to top a hefty drink, giving you a whiff of island spice.

Bob’s Orange & Mandarin – Darker in color than the other bitters, Bob’s Orange & Mandarin bitters is sweet and slightly bitter, with syrupy notes of citrus, canned mandarins, orange blossom, and other high floral tones like iris or elderflower. On the palate it’s nice and juicy, but in truth it doesn’t seem to have much of an nose. This isn’t the bitters to use for an aromatic float on top of your drink, but the flavor is versatile and will nicely complement the herbal and floral components of a gin cocktail, or even a bubbly flute of champagne and elderflower syrup. The Orange & Mandarin bitters strikes me as too delicate for most food uses, but I can see it in a salad dressing with a milder base like grapeseed oil.

Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters – The taste and nose of this bitters are highly reminiscent of orange soap, fresh from the hand pump. There may be a hint of lavender, but this one is first very sweet, then very bitter. Not one for subtlety, Fee Brothers’ take on the orange bitters is a bit too untempered for my taste, but will definitely hold its own against an indelicate spirit or a drink with many robust ingredients. It actually does make for a great addition to a salted chocolate fondue.

Hella Bitter Citrus – What a wonderfully balanced bitters! Nine types of citrus pith marry together in a well focused and lifted start, bestowed with a little more power thanks to the addition of what’s likely cardamom as well as something with a peppery bite. There’s no heaviness to this bitters, so it will really soar in lighter-bodied cocktails but would also make for a perfect all-around both at the bar and in the kitchen.

Miracle Mile Orange Bitters – Coming from a small batch bitters maker in Los Angeles, this bitters does a nice yo-yo from sweet to bitter and back to sweet, giving a well-rounded impression on the palate. Fortified with warm spices like cinnamon and allspice that manifest very strongly in the nose, there’s a slight floral quality afforded to this bitters that likely comes from juniper. All in all incredibly well balanced, just the right combination of sweet, bitter, and warm makes Miracle Mile’s a very versatile orange bitters. Used to top a drink you’re likely to get more spice than orange out of this one.

Regan’s No. 6 Orange Bitters – A very bitter bitters, Regan’s tastes of caramelized orange right up front but quickly devolves into a strong cardamom. The alcoholic nose gives way to a very light hint of orange blossom. The bitterness of this orange bitters lingers far after all the other flavors and aromas have made their march across the palate, making this one a good choice for balancing out a cocktail based on a sweeter spirit like rye by providing contrast to its caramelly notes. Rather versatile, but maybe not the best choice for a blunter alcohol like vodka.

Scrappy’s Orange – This orange bitters is on the spicier end, though not as much as Angostura. It tastes of a juicy orange – clear, bright, unmuddled, and definitely not from concentrate. With aromas of candied orange peel, the finish on the mouth is shorter and less herbaceous than Angostura. Its straightforwardness makes it, in my opinion, the most versatile orange bitters, whether for drinks or for food use.

Urban Moonshine Citrus Bitters – Not overly bitter but very herbaceous, Urban Moonshine’s line of bitters lean more toward the medicinal end of the spectrum. Citrus pith is in the front-most flavor but it is joined by a medley of herbs and roots with dandelion and burdock being the most pronounced. I don’t see this one working in a cocktail, but as a digestif in a bit of seltzer it is very clean and refreshing.

Orange is one of those amazing flavors, or experiences rather, that recalls thoughts of sun and ease, even in the chilly midst of winter. Orange bitters lend something of this evergreen optimism to the cocktails and foods alike.

Try putting an orange slant on the classic Old Fashioned, which calls for bitters muddled with a sugar cube, then covered with whiskey and an orange twist. A Manhattan can take on a whole new sweet and savory meaning with the addition of bacon bitters and a float of orange-ginger bitters that glides in over the top of your palate. Add a few dashes to a Tom Collins or Salty Dog for an increased surge of citrus. Orange bitters do not begin and end with cocktails. Culinary uses abound, too. Mix some bitters into honey for your tea, or put them in a light and floral olive oil with rice vinegar to top a salad of baby greens. Whip some sweet orange bitters into heavy cream and dollop over crepes, or hot cocoa.

Interested in making bitters? Sign up for our Build Your Own Bitters class at our shop in New York City this fall!

Your father will be so happy.

Don’t forget: Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday, June 19th. Orders before noon PST today (3pm EST) are guaranteed to arrive in time for Father’s Day! We’ve got a few ideas for ways that you can show Dad who’s number one without resorting to the emblazoned coffee mug.

EAT

Cook & Serve Himalayan Salt Block Set – Whether for a beginner or a seasoned veteran, this set of two salt blocks will do the job. Includes one tableware block for serving up a platter of sweet summer fruits or sea-fresh sashi, and one cookware block for grilling up the best scallops or flank steak you’ve ever had. Or put them both together and cure a filet of salmon! Let your dad’s imagination run wild.

BBQ Salt Set - For the grilling king. This set provides him with six superb salts to finish, rub, or encrust at the BBQ all summer long. Available in 1.2 oz and 2 oz jars, this set is going to make your father’s barbecues the big hit of the summer.

DRINK

Home Bar Set – This set comes with three salts, two bitters, and a jar of cherries; the foundation for your father’s home bar. He’ll be able to bring color and flavor to the rim of a stiff, chilled drink with these salts, including one smoked and one lemon-infused. The classic duo of old-fashioned and orange bitters along with dark cherries in a spiced Merlot syrup will give him what he needs to create delicious cocktails, both classic and contemporary.

Bitters, Old Men – An artisan line of bitters from the home of the Manhattan, these bottled tinctures come in intriguing flavors like roasted macadamia, smoke, and bacon. A cheeky gift for your favorite bitter old man.

LEARN

Chilling & Grilling with Himalayan Salt Blocks – Portland Location

Join us for an evening class on preparing food on 600 million year old salt blocks from Pakistan. This event includes snacks, wine and an in-depth discussion of everything you ever wanted to know (and everything you never knew you always wanted to know), about cooking with plates and blocks and bricks and rocks of Himalayan Pink salt.

Thursday, June 16th, 2011, 6:30pm to 8:00pm – $30 per person

CELEBRATE!

Today, June 14th marks the Fifth Anniversary of our shop in Portland! At a loss for words. So come celebrate with us in Portland as we toast to five wonderful years in the City of Roses. Drinks, snacks, and good company in abundance–so stop by and let us thank you personally for your many years of custom and friendship. We’re looking forward to seeing you all there!

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011, 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Hey all you New Yorkers, we look forward to seeing you for our One Year Anniversary in October!

Happy Father’s Day from Jennifer, Mark, and the staff at The Meadow

“The recipe I use is based on a number of receipts I dug out of bar guides and medicinal journals from various points of the 1800s and early 1900s.  Based predominantly on citrus and chamomile, the final product is like no other bitters I’ve tried, boasting a great deal of depth and versatility.”

What Goes into Spanish Bitters… and What Comes Out

“I initially made a small-batch of these for a Licor 43 drinks competition that I entered in the summer of 2010. They received such a great response on that day and from the few bartenders who were lucky enough to get their hands on a sample that it made sense to make a Limited Edition batch. The demand since then has been staggering and people are already asking if I’ll make another batch in the future.”

Adam describes his new bitters as being composed of “layers of complex flavor including coriander, violet, raspberry, honey, citrus, pomegranate, toasted orange and predominant chamomile, all leading to a long bittersweet finish.”  The sum of the flavors is very reminiscent of rum, which I suspect might be the base alcohol for this bitters.

The Spanish Bitters is a labor of love for Adam, who performs every step of the process himself:

“I have selected eight dried and fresh botanicals which are steeped in overproof spirit for no less than two weeks. They are then filtered, diluted to bottling strength with Scottish water, and colored with a hint of caramel. My bottlings are truly hand-crafted, with every stage of the production, bottling, and labeling process being taken care of by my own two hands.” I’d love to see what an insect version of Adam could make with a few more appendages at his disposal.

Spanish Bitters in Your Cocktail

Adam says his research for creating his Spanish Bitters has led to something novel in the world of bitters.

“I’ve not come across anything like them to be honest. The really interesting thing for me is the fact that these are essentially classic bitters, but they also have a very modern feel. As with any quality bitters they should have multiple uses so, although the dominant flavor is chamomile, the support flavorings of citrus, coriander, honey, soft spice, and violet give them great versatility in drinks calling for citrus, floral, spiced, earthy, fruity, and bitter notes.”

Adam is bringing openness into what is traditionally the hyper-secretive craft of bitters making.  On his blog he offers up information on recommended drinks and breaks his mixtures down into ingredients with notes on their flavors and medicinal uses. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a bitters maker who is as open with his industry secrets as this guy.
I find that the Spanish Bitters tends toward the sweeter side, so I agree with Adam that it pairs nicely with rum and other dark spirits, though its more floral notes suggest that it’d do just as well with gin drinks. Adam provided me with a drink recipe that he created just for this bitters:

The Union Flip

1 barspoon Caraway Seeds
4 crunches black peppercorn
1 whole egg
1 ounce Appleton 8 Year Old rum
1 ounce Licor 43
4 dashes Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Spanish Bitters
1 teaspoon simple syrup

Muddle caraway seeds in base of mixing glass, add remaining ingredients, and dry shake for five seconds. Fill with cubed ice and shake hard for a further ten seconds. Fine strain into a small frozen wine glass and garnish with grated nutmeg.

I’d recommend trying the Spanish Bitters in some familiar cocktails as well. A sidecar, for instance, could go right off the deep end with the added sweet and spicy rumminess, while a margarita would gain a little more tropical flare.

Too early in the day for a cocktail? Adam says to put a dash or two of Spanish Bitters in a nice citrus tea or warm apple cider! And don’t be afraid to experiment with some dressings and sauces, either.

To read some more about Adam’s forays into historical mixology, see his blog where he recreates drinks from the very first cocktail book published in the United States and reports on news in the cocktail world.

You can buy several of Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s bitters from The Meadow, retail and wholesale, as well as a plethora of other lines of bitters.

Goings on about the Bitters

The new concoction was released just ahead of Valentine’s Day with what I take to be an appeal to blushing lovers to undertake mixological experiments on one another. Avery says the “burlesque” preceded the bitters:

“This is one of those flavors that just came about based on a friend mentioning the word burlesque during our first big bottling session after we restarted Bittermens. As soon as we started talking about Burlesque, it evoked a color and texture—red velvet, like a curtain at a stage show. Once the color and texture were decided upon, we started thinking about flavors that would evoke that feeling, and eventually developed this formula.”

Avery describes the flavor as floral and tart, though to me there’s a bit more to it than that. The bitter element is very strong, with a long, pitchy-peppery flavor that comes through clearly in the aroma, and more subtly in the taste.

The simplicity of the production process belies the complexity of the product: “steep herbs, roots, peels and spices in high proof neutral grain spirits, filter and dilute.” Hibiscus flowers and açaí berries comprise the main ingredients of these bitters, though they are bolstered by over a dozen other flavor components. The Burlesque Bitters are a unique concoction and a new endeavor for Bittermens:

“This is the first time where we attempted to play with bitter and tart flavors together, so coming up with a working balance that made tart a supporting flavor, not the dominant component, was necessary. However, once we figured out how to layer the flavors, it was just a matter of tweaking some of the components.”

Cocktail Recipe with Burlesque Bitters

But what to do with this tarty new addition to the cocktail world? The Glassers recommend gin, genever, rum, vermouth, and Italian amaros.

But Lord God above, putting bitters in amaro evokes for me some turducken-like contraption made by stuffing dynamite into a firecracker. Avery insists “these all play extremely well with these bitters. Certain scotches and tequilas also work extremely well.” Tequila has not worked out so well for us, with several attempts at cocktails coming off discordant and odd. Avery insists that he finds that the smokier mescals or richer reposados make for a good tryst with the Burlesque. I’ll grant that Burlesqued tequila evokes a border town saloon with high-kicking ruffles and smoke and player pianos—and that conjures a thirst.

Generally speaking, Bittermens Burlesque Bitters is a distinctive–or maybe seductively weird is the word–and absolutely necessary addition to the bitters world; elements of razzle-dazzle ricocheting off a sophisticated reserve… what I might venture to call the hallmark of the Glassers’ expertly crafted products.

Thomas Waugh of Death + Company in New York offers this recipe inspired by Bittermens Burlesque Bitters:

The Gold Baron

1½ oz bourbon (Eagle Rare 10)
½ oz Laird’s 100 Proof Applejack
½ tsp grenadine
½ tsp sugar cane syrup
1 barspoon* Burlesque Bitters

Stir and serve on the rocks (or on one large rock if possible) without any garnish.

These bitters would also be an excellent complement for a Negroni, for those of us with more modest home bars. Equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari topped off with a dash or two of Burlesque Bitters and garnished with a slice of orange – voilà!

You can buy the entire line of Bittermens bitters from The Meadow, retail and wholesale.

*A barspoon is a long handled spoon designed to reach the bottom of a tall glass. The measurement is equivalent to a teaspoon.

The Pimm’s Cup is a far better, and more dignified drink than it’s ingredients would suggest; 7-Up is not something I would normally want to be caught drinking in huge quantities.  The namesake ingredient, Pimm’s No. 1, however, is pretty cool.  It was invented in 1923 by the mixologist and oyster bar owner James Pimm.  The drink is based on gin, and contains a bunch of other fruits and spices and herbs.  (Mr. Pimm later went on to make Pimm’s based on whisky, rye, brandy, and vodka).  Splash a bunch of Pimm’s  in a glass, mix with 7-Up, add a slice or three of cucumber and a wedge of lemon, and you’re off.  But add two drops of Adam Elmegirab’s magnificent Dandelion and Burdock Bitters, and you will likely hop the next boat to the old world.  Adam Elmegirab also makes a phenomenal Boker’s Bitters that is pretty amazing (more medicinal) in this and about 1,000 other cocktails.

Serves 1

2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
2 dashes Dandelion and Burdock Bitters
7-Up or lemon-lime soda of choice
3 rounds of cucumber
1 wedge of lemon

In collins glass filled with ice, pour the Pimm’s and Dandelion and Burdock Bitters.  Top off with 7-Up.  Drop in 3 slices of cucumber.  Squeeze lemon wedge and drop into glass as well.  Sip away, mate.

Founded in 2006, by mixologists Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck, The Bitter Truth offers bartenders a broad range of cocktail seasonings and flavors.  The products that will be available in the U.S. include the award winning Celery Bitters, Old Time Aromatic Bitters, Orange Bitters, Lemon Bitters, as well as the Bittermens Xocolatl Mole and Grapefruit Bitters. All bitters are priced at $15.95 for a 200 ml bottle. A coveted item by bartenders around the world, The Bitter Truth Bitters can now be purchased nationwide.

Originally used as a pharmaceutical elixir, bitters were one of the main ingredients in the earliest cocktail recipes. With the resurgence of classic cocktail culture and growth of contemporary mixology, The Bitter Truth’s products have found great favor amongst the best bartenders in the world.  The Bitter Truth line of products helps bring complexity to cocktails and are intended to be another tool for bartenders and mixologists to create unique, creative and innovative cocktails.

“Bringing the bitters to America has been our dream,” says Stephan Berg, co-founder of The Bitter Truth, “but finding the right importing and distribution partner has been our greatest challenge. The Classic and Vintage Artisanal Spirits Portfolio has the background in specialty spirits and nation-wide reach that we need in order to make this a success.”

When Columbus discovered America he was said to preen and prance about in a very annoying, prissy, practiced way that only tights-clad and ruffled Italian discoverers seem to be able to preen and prance: Look at me everybody, I discovered an entire new world! I’ll even call it The New World! It’s mine. I discovered it.
Never mind that millions of people already lived there, that civilizations had risen and fallen and risen again successively at least since the Olmecs carved their first squat stone heads some two millennia earlier. Never mind chocolate (which gave Europe a new outlook on everything from social intercourse to sexual intercourse), corn (which saved the Italians from culinary turpitude and possible starvation) to Turkey (which gave the French century of gloating over the fabled truffled). Well, the discovery of the discovery of the Sbagliato is mine. Ho scoperto. E ‘il mio.

Without further ado: the Sbagliato Saga

Chapter I : Negronilithic Era

Here is the world’s first and only in-depth, category-killing, ultimate Sbagliato recipe. Sit on my knee, and listen, young apprentice. There is some ink to spill and some drinks to pour before we arrive at our final destination.

Sbagliato: bubbly, ruby red, herbaceous and bitter, beading condensation down the ice-cold sides of a rocks glass — one more reason to lament the brevity of the Oregon summer. The challenge here, on a rather hot, definitely languid Monday afternoon, will to abstain from drinking one or two before finishing this post.

The Sbagliato cocktail (it took me a few minutes of brainstorming my spelling options after returning from Tuscany, so I’ll document for posterity sake that it is definitely not spelled spaghettliotto (which is what occasionally slipped out when ordering it), not sbagliatto cocktail, not spagliotto (which I usually said when ordering it), not sbalgioto, not s’baglliottto, and not subactillio.  It is also not a spagliato cocktail, or spagliatto, spaglioto or spagliotto). Once you get over the hump of spelling Sbagliato, it’s all down hill.

FYI, the Americans call it a Negroni Sbagliato, which seemed lost on the Italians who have been mistaking it for decades. A Negroni Sbagliato cocktail recipe seems a bit obtuse. Would you like a fish filet of sole for dinner? I guess Americans like certainty in their food; honestly, “buffalo chicken wings?” Why do people say that? I honestly doubt it is likely to get some Griffin-like hairy flapping buffalo dish for dinner if you just say “buffalo wings.”

The Sbagliato cocktail begins with the Negroni cocktail, and is one of the very few, if not the only, example in history of a knock-off cocktail that rivals the original. Imagine, if you will, that the original episodes of Star Wars never indulged in Muppets or dwarfs in panda suits. The Sbagliato cocktail is the Empire Strikes Back, sans muppets, of the Negroni. Negroni sbagliato… Besides, it’s fun to watch Italians’ faces as they try to parse the juxtaposition of lousy Italian accent and suave, discerning drink order: “un sbagliato per favore,” you bumble, with no further elaboration.

To skip straight from following a standard Sbagliato recipe to making the best dang Sbagliato imaginable, it is necessary to first master the Negroni cocktail.

The classic Negroni consists of:
1 part gin
1 part sweet vermouth
1 part Campari
Combine all three ingredients in an Old Fashioned (rocks) glass over ice and garnish with a slice of orange.
The Negroni invented Florence in 1919 by the no-nonsense Count Camillo Negroni, who found himself in need of something stiffer than an Americano (made with Campari, Sweet Vermouth, and seltzer), and asked for gin with his Americano. One can only wonder why he wasn’t made a Marquis.

So, how do we improve on the Count’s excellent work?

The ultimate Negroni cocktail derives its superiority from three improvements:
1. improving the quality of the ingredients
2. tuning the amount of gin
3. serving it chilled and up

Ingredients:
Gin: Use gin that is good, but not great. Use a good sturdy gin like Tanqueray or Beefeater or Bombay (not Sapphire — too strong). You don’t want the Karmic debt of mucking up great gin with a bunch of highly flavorful additives. Don’t raid your mom’s secret stash of Hendrick’s or Plymouth or Baffert’s or Magellan or Citadelle or Quintessential or G’Vine. You get no extra points for gin erudition, snobbiness, etc. Remember, we are going for a drink that a Count would drink, and as we all know, Counts are born cool and debonair without even trying.

Vermouth: Use good Sweet Vermouth. Here, sky is the limit. Sweet Vermouth is indispensable to every drinker, from the dilettante who prefers it straight, over ice, on a porch swing, to the serious drinker, who prefers it with bourbon and bitters, chilled an served up in a martini glass on a porch swing. We go through a 750ml bottle Sweet Vermouth (Vermouth Rosso) every month or so, but when we finally get around to putting up a porch swing we hope to improve on that quantity substantially. My favorite Sweet Vermouth these days is Andy Quady’s creation,Vya Sweet Vermouth. Andy is not only not Italian, he is not even a Count. But his Vermouth kicks. We sell it at The Meadow, where it serves as fodder for many a tirade on mixology. Carpano Antica Vermouth Rosso is another great option. Do not use Carpano’s Punt e Mes, as it will steamroller the Campari, the gin, and the surrounding countryside.

Campari: That’s it–Campari. I’ve dug around a bit in Italy, and if there is a better, more boutique type production of a Campari-style bitters I have yet to find it.

Tuning: Adding more gin gives the Vermouth and Campari room to move around in, revealing greater depth to their intense herbacious, citrus, spice notes. Like an experienced lover, the additional gin inspires our cocktail to impart its secrets with passion bridled by solicitousness.

Serving: Following Count Negroni’s lead, we whittle down even more the amount of dilutant in the drink, serving it up. The ultimate Negroni experiences only a brief tryst with water, during its gentle chilling. Diaphanous contrails of icewater swirl through the cocktail, imparting the silky mouthfeel of that godlike cocktail, the gin martini. This essential variation on the classic Negroni cocktail boasts the added advantage of a built in requirement that you drink it rapidly, and by extension, repeatedly.

The ultimate Negroni cocktail consists of:
2 to 3 parts good gin
1 part good sweet vermouth
1 part Campari
1 curlicue orange zest

Combine all three over ice cubes in a shaker. Stir gently. Do not shake, do not beat it to death, do not stir it like you’re trying to make whipped cream. Bartenders brutalize their gin, either because they think it looks showy, or because they are in a hurry, or maybe because they think exploding a perfectly good drink into shards of ice and bubbles makes them look especially virile. Stir gently, for about 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Twist with orange zest, so that some of that lovely volatile orange oil beads and glistens on the surface of the drink. Garnish with the pretty curlicue you have made with the orange zest.

Now, my quiet student, you are ready for the Sbagliato.

Chapter II: Enter the Sbagliato

Sbagliato translates literally as “mistaken.” So, armed with our firm grasp of the fullest potential of the Negroni, we screw everything up with the goal of landing a more easily quaffable drink, that we might drink greater quantities, extract more romance from our summertime, and exist in a more robustly hydrated state for a longer period of time, before falling off the porch swing.

Directions for making a Sbagliato. (If you have friends, you make Sbagliati, meaning more than one.)

Great mistakes are earned. To make a mistaken, take what you have learned here, and… go back. Go way back. Go back to your rocks glass full of ice. Go way, way back. Take the gin out, much as it might hurt to do so. Go so far back that nobody knows what the heck you are talking about. Back to the bubbly than originally inspired the Negroni (see the digression below).

Back in the 1860s, the Negroni was invented by a fellow by the name of Gaspare Campari, a maitre licoriste from Turin who remarried to a dame from Milan, and eventually settled there to become the happy proprietor of his very own Café Campari. In a show of grace and diplomacy (Milan and Turin have been known to tussle like cats tangled in guitar strings over the least trifle), Gaspare Campari combined Cinzano sweet vermouth, his own precious Campari bitters, and splash of seltzer, and served it to patrons of his café, calling it the “Milano-Torino.” The drink was later called the Americano in appreciation (here I am making things up) for all the wonderful gastronomic delights we had brought to their country, such as sugar (which gave them gelato), corn (which gave them polenta), and Coke (which gave many of them a preference for Coke over bitter liqueurs).

The Sbagliato is takes the best part of the seltzer water so dashingly abolished by Count Negroni so many years ago: the bubbles. The Sbaglioto invented by mistaking bubbly prosecco for club soda. Taking our adventure in Negroni-land to heart, but going back in time, we need only substitute out the gin for the prosecco, and add back the ice. And so, at last, we have the wherewithal to make our dreamy Sbagliato .

Good Prosecco: I use Adriano Adami’s Garbel Prosecco 13, which is moussy with a nice bubbly resilience in the mouth. Adami Garbel has wonderful delicate floral and tart fruit notes up front, and great sweeter fruits going down. All around, the Adami is a perfectly balanced Prosecco (and much better than many of the ones I was served in Italy in my Sbaglioto quest) for your Sbaglioto cocktail.

The Perfect Sbagliato Cocktail Recipe
4 parts Prosecco
1 part Sweet Vermouth
1 part Campari
1 curlicue orange zest

Pour Prosecco over ice in rocks glass, add Campari and Sweet Vermouth, and stir gently. Do not insult the Prosecco with abusively vigorous stirring. Garnish with the curlicue of orange zest. Like the Negroni and the Martini before it, you want your drink to have a body you can fall in love with. Garnish with a wheel of fresh orange that is first half-squeezed into the glass. Sip slowly from the rim, listening to the summer-song of ice cubes kissing, feeling the chilled liquid on you lips, letting your gaze dissolve and refract through the deeps, as if through the ruby bellybutton gem of a Moroccan harlot.

Footnotes

Digression on Sweet Vermouth: In 1757 in a back room of the family herbal shop where their mixologist pop Giovanni Cinzano had already built a reputation with brandies and liqueurs, brothers Giovanni Giacomo and Carlo Stefano Cinzano, giggling like madmen, combined dozens of aromatic plants from the Italian Alps, including marjoram, thyme, and musk yarrow to make something they thought might not kill people like so many other medicines of the time. The result was Vermouth Rosso, which was remarkably palatable given that the whole concept of Vermouth was dubious. Vermouth sprung from a desire to make really, really bad white wine more palatable. The Italians’ Vermouth mania (the epicenter of which was in Turin) was actually inspired by efforts north of the border in Germany’s Savoy to make their really, really bad wine more palatable by adding wormwood (Wermut), various varieties of which has been used for about 2000 years to make everything from medicine to drugs to liqueurs such as Absinthe.

Digression on Campari: Campari is, by law, required to be consumed exclusively on porch swings. As fun as it can be to drink over ice, it does benefit from the addition of bubbly, such as seltzer, or in Paris, Perrier. It is strong, a bit syrupy, and if the use of seltzer or Perrier conflicts with your moral stance on use of water, gin is also a kosher option. Some decades after the Turinos fell for vermouth, across the sweltering plains of Lombardy in Milan, Gaspare Campari experimented with quinine, about 50 to 60 bitter herbs, rhubarb, spices, ginseng, bergamot oil, orange peel, and above all, bark from Cascarilla trees to create a masterpiece in the tradition of bitter liqueurs. Gaspare had been an apprentice licoriste since he was knee high to a grasshopper (age 14), and must have been a prodigious drinker by the time he was old enough to give birth to the fullest fruit of his genius. It is possible Campari’s Bright red (the color comes form natural Carmine Cochineal in the original formulation which, I think, is still used in Italy), bitter, tangy, and obviously complex, it can be imbibed over ice, with soda, with orange juice, and in a variety of cocktails. Today only Luca Garavoglia, Chairman of the now very large Gruppo Campari company, knows the entire recipe, and only a small band of insider employees are allowed to make the base concentrate that is exported around to world.