A Negroni leaves little room for indecision. Its structure is concise, its balance exposed, and each ingredient must justify its place. Yet this apparent rigidity has allowed bartenders around the world to turn the same bitter grammar into a language of their own. Some introduce a local spirit, others work with smoke, saline, fruit or time. The most convincing versions reveal where they were created and something of the person who created them.
Each week, Orange is the New Chef selects five Negronis from different parts of the world. The principle remains unchanged: the original structure must still be recognisable, the transformation must have a reason, and the drink must tell a story that could not have been written elsewhere.
Negroni Balestrini – Florería Atlántico, Buenos Aires
Bartender: Renato “Tato” Giovannoni
Geographical area: South America
The Negroni Balestrini was created as a tribute to Giovannoni’s grandfather, Enrique “Lelo” Balestrini, a figure the bartender has described as somewhere between Indiana Jones and James Bond. The name carries a family memory, but the drink reaches further back into Giovannoni’s childhood in Pinamar, on Argentina’s Atlantic coast, where the sea and eucalyptus formed part of the surrounding landscape.
Amaro Averna takes the position usually occupied by sweet vermouth, bringing a darker herbal character and a more pronounced bitterness. Sea water tightens the balance, while eucalyptus smoke reaches the nose before the drink touches the lips. The landscape is present, but never reproduced literally.
Inside the glass
In the version documented by Tato Giovannoni, 30 ml of gin are combined with 25 ml of Campari, 20 ml of Amaro Averna and a dash of sea water. The mixture is exposed to eucalyptus smoke in several stages, allowing the aroma to settle into the drink without overwhelming its bitter structure.
Why it belongs here
Few Negronis connect biography, landscape and technique so directly. Every departure from the original recipe leads back to the same place: the Argentine coast where Giovannoni grew up and the grandfather whose name the cocktail still carries.
Carretera – BKK Social Club, Bangkok
Bartender: Philip Bischoff
Geographical area: Asia
BKK Social Club sits beside Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, but Carretera looks towards Mexico. The cocktail translates that distance through mezcal, pineapple and coffee, constructing a Negroni in which several cultures meet without being reduced to decorative references.
The smoke of Montelobos Espadín replaces the botanical profile of gin. Pineapple is infused into Campari, softening its first impact while allowing the bitterness to return, and coffee gives the vermouth a roasted depth. Olive brine and saline solution pull the drink away from sweetness and leave a savoury finish.
Inside the glass
Carretera combines 35 ml of Montelobos Espadín with 30 ml of coffee-infused Cinzano 1757 Rosso Vermouth, 20 ml of pineapple-infused Campari, two barspoons of olive brine and two dashes of saline solution. The ingredients are batched, stirred and served in a rocks glass over one large block of ice, finished with dehydrated Phulae pineapple and a Nocellara olive.
Why it belongs here
This is a Negroni built through displacement: an Italian structure, a Mexican spirit and a cocktail created in Bangkok. Its identity does not come from one country alone, but from the precision with which those influences are made to coexist.
Beetroot Negroni — Conte Sydney
Venue: Raffaelle Lombardi and Victoria Hampshire
Geographical area: Oceania
Conte Sydney has devoted an entire address to the Negroni, offering more than forty interpretations of the cocktail. Within such an extensive collection, the Beetroot Negroni stands out because its transformation remains remarkably simple. Rather than adding another ingredient to the finished drink, the bar infuses beetroot directly into the Campari.
The vegetable changes the bitter component from within, bringing an earthy sweetness and a deeper colour. Monkey 47 supplies the botanical intensity required to hold that flavour, while Carpano Antica Formula brings vanilla, spice and red fruit. The equal-parts construction remains intact, although one of its foundations has quietly moved.
Inside the glass
The recipe retains the original 1:1:1 ratio: 30 ml of Monkey 47 Gin, 30 ml of beetroot-infused Campari and 30 ml of Carpano Antica Formula. The ingredients are stirred with ice for fifteen seconds, then strained into an old-fashioned glass over fresh ice and finished with beetroot and lemon zest.
Why it belongs here
The Beetroot Negroni demonstrates that reinvention does not depend on multiplying ingredients. By transforming a single component, Conte changes the colour, texture and flavour of the drink while leaving its architecture immediately recognisable.
Miami Vice Negroni — Sip & Guzzle, New York
Founders: Steve Schneider and Shingo Gokan
Geographical area: North America
At Guzzle, the energetic ground floor of Sip & Guzzle, the Negroni meets the visual and sensory memory of a Miami Vice. Strawberry provides an immediate sweetness before a coconut wash changes the texture, carrying the drink towards something rounder and more tropical.
The combination could easily have moved too far from the aperitivo. Instead, the traditional Negroni base gives the fruit discipline. Strawberry appears first, coconut follows through the texture, and bitterness returns at the end. The technical work remains largely invisible, which suits a bar where complexity is placed at the service of pleasure.
Inside the glass
The Guzzle team begins with a traditional Negroni structure, introduces strawberry through infusion and uses a coconut wash to alter the texture without adding heaviness. The finished cocktail is served in a rocks glass over one large clear cube, preserving the slow dilution expected from a spirit-forward drink.
Why it belongs here
The Miami Vice Negroni takes flavours associated with easy tropical drinking and places them inside one of the bar world’s most disciplined structures. Its success lies in allowing the strawberry and coconut to be immediately understood without permitting either to erase the bitterness.
Old School Funny — Salmon Guru, Madrid
Bartender: Diego Cabrera
Geographical area: Europe
Most Negroni variations describe a moment. Old School Funny describes a passage of time. At Salmon Guru, the cocktail is matured through a dynamic solera inspired by the criaderas system traditionally used for sherry. Younger liquid enters as mature liquid is drawn off, allowing each new service to retain traces of the batches that preceded it.
Gin, Campari and red vermouth provide the recognisable outline. Port introduces fruit and oxidation, while amontillado brings dryness, nuts and the saline character of Jerez. The solera does not simply soften the mixture. It allows the different wines and spirits to develop a shared history.
Inside the glass
Old School Funny combines gin, Campari and red vermouth with port and amontillado sherry. The blend passes through a dynamic solera maintained over several years, giving the cocktail an evolving profile rather than the fixed character of a conventional batch.
Why it belongs here
Time is the defining ingredient. Each glass contains something of the cocktails served before it, turning the Negroni into a continuing archive. At Salmon Guru, the signature is not frozen in a recipe; it is kept alive through repetition.
Five cities, five readings and the same question behind each glass: how far can a bartender take the Negroni before it stops being one? This week’s selection suggests that the answer lies less in the number of ingredients than in the clarity of the decision behind them.
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