Chris McLean

I have a handful of traditional Negroni loving friends who are very sceptical about the concept of a Blue Negroni. I have dabbled with them trying to generate something that isn't sweet and my traditionalists then added in to the challenge that to be authentic any recipe should be of 'equal parts'. After some experimentation and a green version produced using Gin, Suze & Blue Coração, I came up with the following combination which seemed sufficiently Negroniesque in taste and was made using 15 mls of each of the following ingredients:
London Dry Gin
Vodka (Stoli)
Tequila (Don Angel - I'm not much of Tequila drinker)
Luxardo Bitters
Cocchi Americano
Blue Coração

Those who sampled it gave it the thumbs up, but I'm yet to win over all of the traditionalists who merely saw the photo!

I committed to making this today following a request for a 'something different' drink. I knew my version would involve improvisations but I wasn't expecting to have use guava juice in lieu of pineapple! Nevertheless I pressed on: (all in mls) 50 Edinburgh Gin, 20 Wild Kirsch, 10 Cointreau, 2.5 Becherovka, 15 lime juice, 2.5 agave syrup, 60 guava. Surprisingly good, perhaps more Pratapgarh, than Singapore, Sling, but I'd do it again!

Italicus is rather nice! Goes well as an addition to champagne (as indeed does St. Germaine) and can be used as Aperol for a more monochromatic experience. With Gin & Mediterranean tonic it is excellent. Going half and half with Suze seems to work as well. Currently I'm enjoying (appx measurements) 40 mls London Dry Gin, 20 mls Italicus, 5 mls of agave syrup, 100 mls soda water and 20 mls guava juice. Needs refining but maybe, in the absence of Mezcal, it could be called Cinco de Mayo Falso!

Many thanks, I'll have a dabble in due course and might start with a teaspoonful or two and see how it goes. I indulged in a stout with a separate shot of Becherovka over the weekend for a bit of Prague nostalgia to reacquaint myself with the stuff.