Negroni Week Beckons You Until June 8

Enter Bar Now (or make one of these at home)

 This Whitish Negroni — on the rocks — sparkles with white vermouth and, of course, Campari and gin.

The following Negroni variations originated from other fellow travelers’ books and bars. Each is distinct but embraces the arresting flavors of the original and is perfect for these final days of Negroni Week, the seven-day celebration of the famous cocktail and all its variations. Remember, participating bars across America and other parts of the globe promise to raise money for their favorite charities for every Negroni-style cocktail ordered. If you cannot make it to a bar by Sunday, then by all means have a Negroni-style cocktail at home.

White Negroni
(from Dutch Kills, Queens, NY)

Suze, pronounced like siz, but with a French rounded vowel sound (think Inspector Clouseau), is an aperitif flavored with the bitter roots of the gentian plant. If you try it on its own, it is sweet, as well. It is not for everyone, but is definitely worth a try if you see some behind the bar. Ask your bartender to pour you a sip. In the White Negroni, white vermouth, red vermouth’s milder cousin, rounds out the flavors of gin mixed with Suze in this boozy concoction. Its layered flavors end with a nice bitter finish.

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces gin (we used Beefeater)
3/4 ounce Suze (a bittersweet gentian aperitif)
3/4 ounce Dolin white vermouth (aka bianco, blanc, blanco)
lemon twist, as garnish

Method
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish.

Recipe reprinted from Imbibe Magazine.

Whitish Negroni
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Since we’re big fans of Campari, we decided to do a riff on the White Negroni. But there’s nothing white about this cocktail. It’s actually a gorgeous pink–orange. Its smooth, slightly sweet, and layered flavors (think Aperol) pair perfectly with bacon-wrapped unsulfured dried apricots and a little sage leaf.

Ingredients
1 ounce Beefeater gin
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce Dolin white vermouth (aka bianco, blanc, blanco)
lemon twist, as garnish

Method
Stir in ice for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe. Add garnish.

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These next two cocktails are from two books from which we have made drinks over the years and are perfect for the warming months ahead:

Mistaken Negroni
(from The New Old Bar by Steve McDonough and Dan Smith)

Ingredients
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce orange juice
sparkling wine or Prosecco
orange peel, as garnish

Method
Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into a champagne flute and top with sparkling wine. Serve garnished with a flamed orange peel. [Express orange peel through a match flame by holding the match over the drink and, with your other hand, in one quick, sharp squeeze, pinch the peel (outside of peel facing the match) so the oils spurt through the flame, causing a gentle flare-up.]

Grapefruit Negroni
(from Sips & Apps by Kathy Casey)

Ingredients
1/4 large red grapefruit
1 1/2 ounces gin (we used Death’s Door)
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce Campari
small grapefruit wedge, as garnish
ice, if on the rocks

Method
Squeeze the grapefruit into a cocktail shaker and discard the squeezed fruit. Fill the shaker with ice. Measure in the gin, vermouth, and Campari. Cap and shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass or an old-fashioned glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with small grapefruit wedge.

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So, when all is said and done, you don’t like gin. This is okay. One person’s taste buds differ from the next. here’s something that may stir your whiskey-loving loins:

Red Hook
(created by Enzo Errico, Milk & Honey, New York City)

Ingredients
2 ounces rye whiskey
1/2 ounce Punt e Mes vermouth
1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Method
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir well for 20 seconds and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Recipe reprinted from Imbibe Magazine.

To find out how to make a Punt e Mes Negroni, click here.

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Crème de Violette Cocktails for Your Springtime Party

The Blue Moon Cocktail will brighten up your cocktail party with its sweet and sour combination of lemon and violets. 

Finally, spring is here. Warm caresses from the sun. The dewy luminescence from springtime light. Rainbow beauty from early-riser flowers such as crocuses, hyacinths, and daffodils. Just walking to the subway brings exquisite joy. This is the time of year when our taste buds turn to floral favors. One such flavor we revere comes from violets in the form of a deep, almost impenetrable purple liqueur called crème de violette. The term crème refers to sugar, and there is plenty of that in pretty much the only crème de violette you can get stateside, Rothman & Winter, which is also made with Alpine violets and Weinbrand (German or Austrian brandy). It became available to us here soon after we started Cocktail Buzz, back in 2007, and we have been smitten with it ever since. Initially, we bought some to fulfill the old recipe for an Aviation cocktail. It’s hard to fathom how this cocktail got its name without the addition of a little crème de violette, which adds a subtle but magical pale purple–blue tint to the drink. It’s a stunner—sourness from the lemon juice, bitterness from the maraschino liqueur, and sweetness from the crème de violette. We created a variation of the Aviation we call the Kitty Hawk, named after the Wright Brothers’ site of their famous flight. The addition of a little Catdaddy moonshine adds a southern sweet-tea charm to the cocktail. On its own, one sip of crème de violette will remind you instantly of violet candies you can find at any candy counter in New York City.

A Violet Sparkler, simple and beautiful

For all of you who like to get the party started with a little bubbly, you’ll be happy to know that crème de violette mixes exceedingly well with champagne or any sparkling wine. Just a little splash (1/2 to 1 1/2 teaspoon per 3 ounces of champagne) in a flute or coupe is all you need to experience the floral aromas and tastes of a Violet Sparkler. Top with some reposado tequila and you’ve just made yourself La Violeta. Something elegant for a Cinco de Mayo cocktail party.

Cousin Barbara turned us on to the Blue Moon, a gin and lemon juice Jazz Era cocktail laced with a healthy dose of the violet liqueur. The Blue Moon glows anywhere between heliotrope and lavender depending on the gin you use (try several to see which one you like best), and is perfect for any time of year, but spring seems just about right. Perfect if you want to serve something a little boozier to your guests. Just provide a few nibbles to keep the partiers satisfied and sober.

Blue Moon
(adapted by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce crème de violette
1/2 ounce lemon juice
lemon twist, as garnish

Method
Shake in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass or coupe. Add garnish.

Another cocktail resplendent with a smoky gray hue was created a few years back, when Phil Ward was behind the stick at Death & Co. Paul and his friend Shelley were lucky enough to have Phil make one up on the spot while we were talking about a cocktail Paul had made for his mom that featured scotch and crème de violette. Phil grabbed a bottle of this Compass Box blended whisky called Asyla, gave it a deep sniff, then immediately grabbed a bottle of crème de violette, gave that a quick sniff, then put both bottles near his nose and gave both a deep inhale. The first thing he grabbed was Lillet blanc. The clincher was absinthe, but just a little. The verdict, well, neither Shelley or Paul can recall the exact details, but rest assured, they liked the results. Each ingredient working to enhance the others. Try it up, as Phil intended, but feel free to have it on the rocks, or with a splash of soda.


Smoke and Violets
(created by Phil Ward)

Ingredients
2 ounces Asyla Compass Box scotch whisky
1 ounce Lillet blanc
1/2 ounce crème de violette
2–3 dashes absinthe
lemon twist, as garnish

Method
Stir in ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass or coupe. Add garnish.

For after dinner, you may want a Marianne at Midnight, the drink referred to above that Paul created for his mother. We’ve altered our recipe a little, adding a half ounce less crème de violette, to this scotch and Tuaca sipper.

If you’d like to harvest the essence of crème de violette and create a bitters, all you need to do is find some gentian (a bitter root), cinnamon bark, and grapefruit peel. Letting these age a few days in an ounce and a half ounces crème de violette is all you need to do. Then get creative and come up with your very own cocktail.

Violet Bitters
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces crème de violette
1/4 teaspoon gentian
piece of cinnamon bark
piece of grapefruit peel

Method
Mix together ingredients and let sit for a few days. Strain into a small bottle or dropper.

We don’t know which is prettier: the heliotrope glow of a Blue Moon (left) or the bubbly lavender of a Violet Sparkler? We think you should make both and decide for yourself.

Well, there you have it all. A crème de violette cocktail for any time of the day or evening. Start with a Violet Sparkler and end with one of the many drinks we love and have shared with you. Or create your own using your new homemade violet bitters. Happy spring. Embrace renewal.

photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Event: Tres Generaciones Tequila Keeps Satisfying

by Paul Zablocki

Last Wednesday I attended an informal yet fun and informative tequila tasting at The Volstead in East Midtown. There I met Jaime Salas, National Tequila Ambassador for Casa Sauza, the distillers who create Tres Generaciones tequila, and fell in love with the Añejo. Jaime was there to share some cocktail recipes and talk about this amazing 100% blue agave tequila that has been around for over 135 years. I got a chance to chat him up for a while before the brief talk began.


His breadth of tequila lore is encyclopedic and his passion for its promotion is infectious. When I asked him what his favorite Tres Generaciones expression was, he quickly answered “Añejo.” So I sidled up to the event’s makeshift bar, smiled at the barkeep, and asked her for a bit of the amber-hued spirit. The aromas emanating from that little glass were bewitching: a sweet, light caramel (Jaime detects vanilla and toffee) that reminded me of some aged ryes and bourbons (the añejo is aged for twelve months in toasted American oak barrels), but of course, after sipping it, I was struck by that one-of-a-kind agave flavor that permeated my taste buds at the finish. I also tried the plata and reposado expressions, both of them slightly sweet and laced with a white-peppery bite, the reposado being slightly smoother and less sweet. The presence of agave was unmissable. These two would make excellent cocktails, I thought, but the añejo, this expression would be perfect for sipping on a cool night after a fiesta (or, hell, after a hard day of paper-shuffling).

I easily downed the two cocktails on offer. First was the Sweet Breeze (mine had Tres Generaciones Plata), a refreshing seasonal alternative to a margarita made with muddled basil, strawberries, and ruby red grapefruit. The nosh served at the Volstead to accompany this drink kept me from becoming a lightheaded mess, and as I chomped on sliders, nachos with salsa, and cheesy hors d’oeuvres, I asked our lovely lady behind the stick to whip me up the second drink. Although not seasonally appropriate for the close humidity that is August, Jaime informed me that this drink would be perfect for the holidays. And indeed it was; the Holy Mole (an apt name) smelled like Christmas: hot chocolate and spicy cinnamon mixed with the heavenly añejo, with a generous dollop of whipped cream to paint one’s upper lip.

John Leguizamo receives the COA Award from Jaime Salas, Tres Generaciones National Tequila Ambassador. (photo: Boden PR)

Talking some more with Jaime in between sips and nibbles, I discovered his other passion: Mexican filmmaking. His work as a Tres Generaciones ambassador has given him the opportunity to present its COA Award (an award created to recognize outstanding achievements in the Latino filmmaking industry, named after the tool that workers use to harvest and dissect the agave plant in the fields) to such notables as director Natalia Almada (the documentary El General) and the insanely talented John Leguizamo (Where God left His Shoes). He loved presenting the award to Leguizamo who was genuinely interested in the work that Salas and Tres Generaciones does for Latino cinema.

If you ever get a chance to shoot the breeze with Jaime Salas, do. He is charming and affable, and you will learn a thing or two about the world’s most popular spirit. Special thanks to Mitch Delaplane of PitchPoint PR for getting everybody to the Volstead to celebrate this exciting tequila, including the likes of Francine Cohen (editor-in-chief of Food & Beverage Magazine) and consultant Jonathan M. Forester (Drinking the World). ¡Salud!

Sweet Breeze

(created by Eddie Perales, Tres Generaciones West Coast Ambassador and Mixologist)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Tres Generaciones Reposado or Plata Tequila
1/2 ounce agave nectar
2 ounces fresh lemon sour (1 oz. lemon juice/1 oz. simple syrup)
juice from 1/2 lime
1 diced strawberry
1 peeled large ruby red grapefruit segment
2 large basil leaves

Method
In a mixing glass muddle the strawberry, grapefruit, and basil. Add the other ingredients and shake. Strain over ice and garnish with a skewered red ruby grapefruit wedge, wrapped with a basil leaf.

Holy Mole

(created by Bobby Gleason, Master Mixologist)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Tres Generaciones Añejo Tequila
1/2 ounce DeKuyper Hot Damn Cinnamon Schnapps
hot chocolate (try one made with Mexican chocolate)

Method
In a preheated coffee mug add the tequila and schnapps. Fill with hot chocolate. Top with whipped cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a cherry.