White Negroni

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (220 ratings)

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 oz Gentian liqueur (e.g. Suze, Salers etc)
1 oz Aromatized wine (e.g. Lillet Blanc)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
  2. Prepare pink grapefruit zest for garnish.
  3. POUR all ingredients into ice-filled glass.
  4. STIR.
  5. Express pink grapefruit zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

Wayne Collins, this drink's creator, originally used equal parts as is usual for a classic Negroni and after trying various other formulations, I've found this works best. Wayne also specified a grapefruit zest twist and this makes the cocktail. However, be warned, this is a cocktail for aficionados of bittersweet aperitifs and gentian.

View readers' comments

History:

Created in 2001 by Wayne Collins at VinExpo. Bordeaux, France using Plymouth Gin for Nick Blacknell, then brand director of Plymouth Gin. Later, Simon Ford, who was the Plymouth Gin ambassador, introduced the drink to Audrey Saunders in the early days of her Pegu Club where the drink became a hit on the menu.

Nutrition:

One serving of White Negroni contains 161 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 20.66% alc./vol. (20.66° proof)
  • 18.6 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Stephen Broughall’s Avatar Stephen Broughall
29th March at 23:56
Suze is superb but can take command of a cocktail. This is an excellent showcase for it but for the next round I will reduce the Suze slightly. Or maybe a dash of soda?
21st March at 20:55
Tastes like Crodino
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
10th February at 05:01
Whilst I've loved this over the years with Cocchi Americano, Beefeater, and Suze (and it's fantastic!) revisiting this with Lillet Blanc...aaah....it's perfect. By the way, have ya'''all tried the Five-Three-Five? Star.
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
30th March at 13:43
… just looked at the recipe, Calvin…Still recovering from early traumatic experiences with midori so haven’t tasted it in over 30 years… maybe one day…!
Michael Click’s Avatar Michael Click
6th February at 11:02
I made this with Plymouth Navy Strength, Suze, and Cocchi Americano in equal parts. The gin really holds up here but it packs a punch! This is an excellent drink, both fruity, bitter, and earthy.
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
31st December 2024 at 20:07
I've made this a few times over the 5 years, and this one take stands out. But it tastes like a bitter Sprite. What's your thoughts?... Equal parts: Monkey 47, Cocchi Americano, Salers.
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
2nd January at 12:17
Following the discussion with Chris brislawn on these pages, if you sub half the Lillet for Bonal or another available Kina you’ll get something much more pleasingly adult and bittersweet. On this occasion I went with Sipsmith 30, Suze 30 (haven’t been able to source salers for comparison) 15 each Lillet and bonal. Very satisfying digestif.
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
13th December 2024 at 13:23
Revisiting with proper indigents. Very pleasant and, for my money, significantly less bittersweet than a regular negroni (I’m looking at you Campari 👀). Sampled the newly acquired bottle of Suze and found it very pleasant indeed. But then I had also just sampled Bonal also, which is generous on the bitter element, tho not outrageously.
Mark’s Avatar Mark
9th December 2024 at 23:24
Swapped the wine for noilly prat original ( for the sake of finishing the bottle ) Definitely a milder bitterness in comparison to the original spec but still is quite good. Gentian has really started growing on me.
Peter Barth’s Avatar Peter Barth
7th November 2024 at 18:12
Made it side by side one with Lillet Blanc and one with Cocchi Americano- the latter is definitively the right choice! Incorporates the Suze better and has overall a more negroni-feel. Lillet Blanc in contrast doesn't produce a rounded palate
Tuna Cubed’s Avatar Tuna Cubed
11th October 2024 at 01:29
Not sure that I like it in the 1:1:1 ratio but then the only 1:1 drink that's my favorite is the Last Word.

First time using Suze and it is thuggish...but I like the flavor. Neat vegital herbaceousness on the back end that you don't get with Campari. I look forward to playing with it.

Up the gin, dial back the Suze and
David Perry’s Avatar David Perry
14th September 2024 at 05:39
Discovered this in a bar in Paris last year, & been drinking it ever since. Suze, memorably described by another subscriber as 'thuggish' is somewhat disarmed in this excellent cocktail.