Polpo's recipe for London's ultimate negroni

London bars are doing an ace job of making negronis, but if you want to try it at home, Polpo's bar manager Tom Ross has the ultimate recipe — explains why getting the negroni right is so important

Perfection: Polpo's negroni (Photo by Jenny Zarins, Polpo by Russell Norman is published by Bloomsbury)

Jenny Zarins, Polpo by Russell Norman is published by Bloomsbury

Tom Ross

8 May 2014

We have been known to use the classic red vermouth Punt e Mes. We find this gives a negroni a slightly more balanced sweetness against the gin and Campari.

Our Polpetto negroni uses Mancino Vermouth Rosso Amaranto. We discovered this vermouth last year when we were introduced to it by Giovanni at Osteria Ai Rusteghi, which is located down a series of tiny winding lanes just around the corner from St Mark’s Square. I really enjoy the slight weighting towards vanilla with this vermouth.

As it stands, the Polpo restaurants use the 1:1:1 ratio of Beefeater, Campari and Cinzano Rosso. However, a good barman should always ask how the customer would like theirs made. I like mine a little sweeter - less Campari, more Rosso.

THE RECIPE

extracted from POLPO: A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts) by Russell Norman (£25, Bloomsbury)

What a brilliant concoction this is! There is such symmetry and balance here that it can’t fail to bring a smile to your face or a spring to your step. Invented, legend has it, when Count Camillo negroni asked a bartender to add a slug of gin instead of soda to his Americano.

Orson Welles used to drink dozens of negronis and claimed that they were good for you. He maintained that while the gin might not be great for your liver, the bitters were, and the two balanced each other out. Try telling that to your doctor.

25ml gin

25ml Campari

25ml sweet vermouth

A slice of orange

Ice

Don’t mess with these proportions. They are perfect as they are.

Fill a small tumbler with ice. The classic Duralex tumblers are perfect for this drink. Pour the ingredients over the ice, stir once or twice and add a slice of orange.