Negroni: 'Satanic delicious hell broth' celebrates its 100th birthday

negroniOn its 100th birthday we raise a glass to the Negroni – and drink in its mysterious history (Image: Getty)

Which helps explain why the Negroni is now the second most popular cocktail in the world (just behind the Old Fashioned and ahead of Whisky Sour and Daiquiri), according to Drinks International, with sales in the UK soaring by nearly 40 per cent in the past 12 months. This is fitting given that 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the drink Ernest Hemingway liked so much that he named one of his adored dogs Negroni; the cocktail James Bond orders when he's not in the mood for a Martini; the concoction described by the late chef Anthony Bourdain as the "perfect" tipple - albeit warning it will "hit you like a freight train after four or five".

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Aficionados of the glamorous drink include Nigella Lawson, George Clooney and Idris Elba. And this summer, the Negroni looks set to give the Aperol Spritz - the hot-weather hit of the past few years - a run for its money.

Yet only three people in the world know what really makes up a Negroni - and only two people in the world know who those three people are.

The easy bit is to say that it's one part Campari, one part gin and one part sweet vermouth, a glorious ménage a trois, a Holy Trinity of sorts.

The great mystery is what goes into Campari. The recipe (reported to be worth £8billion) is locked in a vault in Milan and all it says on the bottle is that it's "obtained from the infusion of bitter herbs, aromatic plants and fruit in alcohol and water".

Any number of super-sleuths have tried to crack the Campari code. Two years ago Martini launched a rival called 1872 Martini Bitter, made from saffron, angostura and columba. But it's hardly taken off.

Campari has had a stranglehold on the market ever since Gaspare Campari invented it as a young bartender in Milan in the 1850s. 

007James Bond's backup drink is the Negroni 'Red Devil' (Image: Getty)

ernest hemingwayPopular..... American writer Ernest Hemingway enjoyed the tipple (Image: Getty)

It was then called Bitter all Uso d'Holanda - changed to Campari by Gaspare's two sons when they took over the company in 1882.

But the history of the Negroni is more complex - and controversial. As Negroni Week gets underway (it's June 24-30, since you ask), with bars promoting the ruby-red cocktail, the official story is holding firm.

Which is that Count Camillo Negroni (who may or may not have been a count) walked into Caffè Casoni (now Caffè Giacosa) on Tornabuoni Street in Florence in 1919 and asked the barman, Fosco Scarselli, to pour gin into his Americano rather than soda water. The Americano comprised Campari, sweet vermouth and soda. 

So, by swapping the soda for gin, the alcohol content was revved up... and the Negroni was born. Signor Scarselli then added a wedge of orange to distinguish it from the lemon in an Americano.

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