Mijenta
Mijenta

Zero Proof Creation Is a Dead Ringer for a Negroni

When is a Negroni a No-groni? When it’s this clever mocktail

stroy by Kelly Magyarics

The Negroni, that beloved equal-parts, three-ingredient cocktail that balances bitter, boozy, and botanical, is marking its 100th anniversary this year. As with most booze lore, its exact origins are unknown, but it’s believed to have been first mixed in Florence, Italy in 1919 at Caffè Giacosa (today called Caffè Casoni). As the story goes Count Camillo Negroni asked bartender Fosco Scarselli to add gin instead of soda water to fortify his Americano. The crafty ‘tender also took it upon himself to add an orange peel instead of the typical lemon and a new sip was born.

While you could mix or order the original or one of its modern iterations, the best way to celebrate the Negoni’s birthday may very well be with one very creative, booze-free stand-in.

At Il Posto in Denver, lead bartender Adam Gamboa has long been concocting zero proof drinks, a project stirred by his father who chose to be sober shortly before Gamboa was born and remained that way for the next twenty-five years. “At family reunions and during special occasions he’d sometimes comment to his siblings or friends about how much he missed the taste of certain drinks,” he recalls. That led to the younger Gamboa’s foray into brewing non-alcoholic beers. But his bartending muscles have always been flexed into figuring out just what would be involved with replicating the flavor of certain cocktails and spirits.

Last October he began toying around with different creations and mocktails including the Negroni, whose inclusion of three components (Campari, gin, and sweet vermouth) that are each layered and dimensional in their own right, proved to be quite vexing. “I spent a few days calling every apothecary, spice shop, herbal medicine, Wicca and dark arts store within fifty miles,” he says. It took him a week to procure everything he needed, including time spent hiking the Colorado mountains foraging for the fresh pine, spruce, sage and juniper that he just couldn’t find in any store or online purveyor. The result was a twenty-six ingredient laundry list of everything from calamus root, gentian and rhubarb root, to dehydrated citrus, coriander, schizandra berries and cardamom, all used in his Vir-Gin Negroni.

Easiest to replicate was gin’s citrus and herbal complexity, he says, and he relished the idea of creating his own ideal gin profile. “The speed bump I hit along the way was in building the vermouth,” he says. “In fact I’m still playing around with the recipe and regularly make small adjustments to my batches.” The latest experiments involve grapes and blueberries cooked sous vide with a restrained amount of herbs and spices.

Building a proper traditional Negroni is a sign of a good bartender for sure. The ratio of ingredients needs to be perfect, it must be stirred enough to allow for both proper dilution and chill and the orange peel should be fresh enough (and squeezed enough) so the citrus oils create a visible sheen on the surface.

But creating this no proof elixir is another level of skill entirely.

First Gamboa muddles the dried berries, citrus and herbs before cooking the latter two at a low temperature. “I’ve learned a lot about the way various ingredients break down in heat,” he admits, adding that roots, bark, and wood to be boiled then immediately removed from the heat to allow for proper infusion. He lets the batch cool, adds in the other ingredients and (if using berries or fruit besides citrus) adds sugar in an amount equal to the weight of the fruit. The mixture sets for up to two days before it’s cooked via sous vide at 135 degrees for four hours and strained. It’s served over a 2×2 ice cube with a splash of soda and garnished with an orange peel and costs $8 like the other n/a drinks that have been on the menu since April. “So far I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from guests. Many sip their way through more than one over the course of their dinner.”

He’s also found another use for the Vir-Gin mix; Puttin’ on the Spritz was inspired both by the Aperol Spritz and a non-alcoholic Prosecco released by Canadian n/a beer company Gruvi.

No matter the reason a person chooses to refrain from alcohol, whether it’s a medical condition or just wanting to take a break from booze, Gamboa says he wants them to feel special and taken care of when they sit down at his bar. “They’re hitting the town with the rest of us and hoping for a great experience, I feel it’s important to give these patrons the same quality experience that I give to my standard cocktail drinkers.” As for the whole debate on what term is the best for these types of drinks (n/a, zero proof, no proof or mocktail), he prefers the latter, even though it’s scoffed at by some. “It’s simple, catchy and reads well on a menu.”

We think even that dapper Italian Count would be impressed.

Kelly Magyarics, DWS, is a wine, spirits, lifestyle and travel writer in the Washington, D.C. area. You can reach her through her website, www.kellymagyarics.com or on Twitter and Instagram @kmagyarics.

Old Soul 2024