Hi, it's Anders! Today I'm going to show you how to make an Americano and a Negroni.
Two for one - it's a two-for-one sale!
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Welcome back! So today I'm going to show you how to make two cocktails.
It all started with the Americano. The Americano came to be in the late 1800s in northern Italy in Milan.
And decades later - 40, 50 years later - the Negroni came to be because somebody ordered an Americano with gin.
It developed this family of cocktails all based around Campari. Campari and sweet vermouth.
I'm showing you the original variation of the Americano - which is the Negroni.
Both very easy, very simple. Let's get to it, and let's have a cocktail that's slightly bitter - in the best way possible.
To the bar!
Let's - let's go.
You get it, you get it. Alright.
Okay, the Americano and the Negroni. Tools I have, I've got my jigger, my mixing glass, and a julep strainer.
I also have two double rocks glasses because I'm making two cocktails.
Both are going to be on the rocks - a big rock and small rocks. But both are going to be in these glasses.
The Americano is going to be actually built in the glass, so I'm going to start with the Negroni.
because it's slightly more involved. Now the booze.
We are going to need Campari, sweet vermouth, and gin . The Campari I'm using is Campari,
the vermouth I'm using is Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, and the gin is the Botanist Isla Dry.
I want to talk briefly about Campari. In this family of cocktails Campari is the star component,
and it is a monster. It takes over in terms of flavor and color. If you're not careful it can really just wipe everything else out.
It's an apéritif that has kind of a bitter finish, so it's great to have right before a meal.
Yeah, for some people it might be a little bitter upon first tasting, but you grow to love it really quickly.
There are a couple other renditions. Luxardo makes one that's just,
I think it's just called Luxardo Bitter, but it's not quite as dry as Campari - so I prefer Campari.
Before you make this cocktail maybe taste the Campari and if the Campari is a little too bitter,
then you can go with its cousin Aperol. Which is another apéritif that is a little bit sweeter than Campari,
but really try the Campari first. For these cocktails it really is all about the Campari.
So traditionally this cocktail is all equal parts, but I find that equal parts one, one, one,
is heavy on the Campari, and with the sweet vermouth it becomes a richer cocktail.
So I do two parts gin to one part Campari and one part sweet vermouth. That way the gin cuts through the richness of the sweet vermouth
and it doesn't let the Campari take over the cocktail. So two, one, one.
As far as picking a gin, use a gin that you like, but I would recommend a drier gin.
The sweeter gin can get buried by all these other flavors. Use a dry gin. Okay let's build.
So I'm gonna start with the gin.
We'll do an ounce and a half of your dry gin,
three quarters of an ounce of Campari,
and three quarters of an ounce of sweet vermouth.
Now we can add ice and stir.
There we go.
Stir to dilute and chill - about 30 seconds.
Ohh - we're getting close.
Okay, that's looking pretty good.
I'm going to pour this over a big cube so it melts slowly.
This is more of a sipping cocktail.
There it is.
And then for a garnish,
I just like a little orange oil on the top. You can flame the orange oil if you want,
but with the gin, I just like a bright orange on top. And you could drop this in, but I'm gonna leave it out.
There it is - the Negroni! We're just gonna take one - one quick - one quick little sip.
I love a Negroni. This is so good. Now the Americano. Start by putting ice in your glass.
Okay, ice in the glass, and then we're just gonna build it right on top.
We're gonna do a full ounce and a half of sweet vermouth,
and the same ounce and a half of Campari,
and then top it off with soda water. So the build is the same as my Negroni build,
where it goes one, one, and then two part soda water. You can use any soda water. I happen to be using Topo Chico
because I like the aggressive bubbles with this. It really lightens up the cocktail, but i would like
to get like a soda stream or something. Maybe that's in my future.
So just top it off with soda.
God listen to that - it sounds happy. Give it a little stir,
and for a garnish you can put an orange wheel or lemon wheel in there.
At the bar we do an orange, but because I have orange on the Negroni,
and I happen to have lemons, I'm gonna put a lemon in this one.
I think traditionally it was lemon, but you see lemon or orange. I just like to drop it right in - like that.
There they are!
Now there are other renditions,
you've got the Boulevardier, La Rosita, but I'm starting with the original branches.
Okay, so clearly because of the build, the Americano is lower ABV.
This is a nice midday sipper, and the Negroni is if you are serious about drinking.
Az would you like one of these?
[laughter]
Yes, I would love to have one of those.
Cheers. Okay, cheers!
To Italy.
Mmm
Mmmm
This one tastes different than the ones I've had at the bar.
Maybe 'cause - [laughter]
This little kid's stool. The lemon really brightens it up.
I'm not gonna lie, tastes a little bit like banana.
Banana!
I have weird, I think, a weird palette
No you don't.
because I always taste things that aren't there.
I can see banana.
Is it the vermouth?
I think it's the vermouth - the verMOOT. Yeah.
Is it the verMOOT?
I think the vermouth. I should also point out that some people like this served up.
Others like it on the rocks or on a big cube. So do whatever you want. If you want it up, serve it up
Also, the Negroni is working on its 101st year.
Really?
Yeah, so it's 1919 that -
That was the birth of the Negroni?
That was the birth of the Negroni in Florence, yeah.
Well, well.
I studied abroad in Florence, Italy, and I had no idea what a Negroni was.
So I never had a Negroni.
I should say this was nearly 20 years ago.
The Americano came from Milan. It started as -
We got a -
Oh, this truck.
What I was saying was something -
[loud truck sounds from outside]
These are the troubles that we have during recording.
One of these days we're gonna have a bar set up that is away from allies.
Yeah, well, our whole apartment is basically on an alley.
No, it is literally on an alley. We live in an alley.
Well if you live in Chicago, you always live on an alley.
Like one of your windows has to face an alley.
That's true.
And I'm happy that Chicago has alleys. Well, like New York doesn't have alleys.
So they just pile up the garbage out in the streets. I love New York, I do. I'm not saying anything bad about New York,
but here we just hide our garbage.
We hide our garbage here in allies.
Anyway, anyway, back to Italy.
So why did they start calling it the Americano?
So around the turn of the 20th century, the Americano just became
such a popular drink with american tourists.
They just named it the Americano.
Yeah.
Well that's cool.
I do enjoy the Americano. It's very easy.
Okay.
Alright, we're gonna call it.
That's it, lights out.
See you later.
When I was in Italy, I went to a soccer match, and it was great fun.
Florence played Milan, and apparently it was a big rivalry. I had no idea, but I went there with my camera,
and I was so excited to get some good pictures, but it got crazy. Somebody took the cap of
my camera and whipped it out onto the field. And I was really bummed. And I didn't know how to speak Italian,
so I couldn't talk back to them. That was another life ago, but somebody - somebody somewhere
has a Canon lens cap. No, they probably threw it away. I still have that camera. That was an old film camera.
This is how long ago it was.
That's it! The Negroni and the Americano!
With the Negroni, try the different ratios. Try one, one, one. Two, one, one like I have here,
and see which is your favorite. Let me know in the comments down below.
Thank you for watching. If you like this video, like and subscribe, and I will see you next time.
Cheers!
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