The most widely held story is that the Negroni cocktail was invented at Caffe Casoni in Florence, Italy in 1919.
Legend tells that Count Camillo Negroni asked his friend, bartender Forsco Scarselli, to strengthen his favourite cocktail (the Americano) by replacing the soda water with gin. Scarselli added an orange garnish, rather than the lemon you’d usually get with an Americano, and the drink took off.
Before long, everyone was coming into Caffe Casoni for a ‘Negroni’, and the classic cocktail was born.
This gin was originally the result of a conversation between Cameron Mackenzie (our distiller) and Jason Williams (one of the World’s Top Ten Bartenders) back in 2014. Together they wanted to create a gin specifically for the Negroni, to cut through the bitter and vermouth.
We use botanicals like Tasmanian pepperberry leaf, cinnamon, West African spice grains of paradise and Indonesian cubeb to up the ante. Plus there’s some fresh ginger in the botanical basket to help lift the spice, and we opened up the plates to add weight and intensity to the gin.
This is a G&T but not as you know it, with grapefruit and spice adding intensity.
INGREDIENTS
- 45mL Four Pillars Spiced Negroni Gin
- 90mL good tonic water
- Fresh grapefruit
METHOD
- Add ice and gin to a short glass
- Top with tonic water
- Garnish with a wedge of grapefruit
A beautiful twist on the classic, it’s complex and balanced with lush texture and spicy zing.
INGREDIENTS
- 60ml Spiced Negroni Gin
- 25ml fresh lemon juice
- 15ml sugar syrup
- 10ml Campari
- 15ml egg white
METHOD
- Combine all ingredients in a shaker
- Shake well and double strain into a coupette
- Garnish with a dried orange slice
