Cocktail recipe
White Negroni
A pale, intensely bittersweet Negroni with grapefruit perfume and a gentian edge.
Ingredients
- 30 ml (1 oz) London dry gin
- 30 ml (1 oz) gentian aperitif (Suze-style)
- 30 ml (1 oz) aromatized white wine aperitif (Lillet Blanc-style)
- Garnish: 1 grapefruit twist
Preparation
Stir gin, gentian aperitif and white-wine aperitif over hard ice until cold and cohesive. Strain over a large cube in a rocks glass. Express a wide grapefruit twist across the surface and set it on the rim; that bright oil is part of the drink's architecture.
Glassware
Rocks glass, one large cube
History
Wayne Collins created the White Negroni at Vinexpo in Bordeaux in 2001 while working with Plymouth Gin brand director Nick Blacknell. Faced with a lack of familiar Italian red bitters, Collins used French Suze and Lillet Blanc alongside gin. The original formula was equal parts, and a grapefruit twist was part of Collins's specification. Simon Ford later introduced the drink to Audrey Saunders at New York's Pegu Club, helping establish its American following. Although many modern versions increase the gin, this house profile deliberately retains the creator's equal-parts concept.
Mixology View
This isn't simply a colourless Negroni: gentian and grapefruit make it a different, more austere conversation. The equal-parts ratio honours Collins's original idea.