I accidentally put Cynar instead of Campari on this occasion but want unhappy as it retained the fundamental sweet- bitter balance and just added some extra depth.
Stirred with some scraps of orange peel (from shaping the garnish), great roundness and velvety texture, it tastes like a slightly improved Negroni with hints of complexity from the cocoa (I used a homemade creme de cacao, might have helped). Definitely at par with the classic version.
I’m going to go with the crowd and advocate for 10ml cacao and 8 drops chocolate bitters. As a chocolate lover, if it says chocolate I expect chocolate!
Probably my favourite Negroni variant. I'm currently enjoying this for Negroni Week 2024. I don't think I've had this variant since New Year and right now I'm struggling to work out why not :-D (Chocolate Negroni)
This is a beautifully balanced cocktail. To those commenters here advocating more chocolate, I would simply say that it's a Chocolate Negroni, not Negroni chocolate.
This drink was well-received by my crowd on Easter. Couldn't find Dutch Cacao so I settled for a generic brand. Will try more chocolate next time, as noted in other comments.
Consensus seems to be that it needs more chocolate, so I used a good dash of Bittermen's Xocolatl Mole Bitters and 1/2 oz Drillaud *dark* creme de cacao. My wife agrees: no lack of chocolate in this drink. Instead of Punt E Mes I used Tempus Fugit's Alessio Rosso Vermouth, which works quite well with the chocolate flavors, and garnished with a dried orange wheel.