The Inspiration
After a bunch of attempts to make a better negroni using, coffee, mezcal, barrel aged gin, earl grey infused gin, etc… we decided to use an infusion we had made for another drink and thought this had a nice way of starting stronger, growing bitter, and ending chocolatey. And thus the barrel aged navy strength negroni (BAN) was born. However, admittedly, it did not perform so hot (even to us) in a blind negroni toast off we did with 11 tasters.
Ingredients
0.75 ounce navy strength gin (we used plymouth)
0.5 ounce barrel aged gin (we used barr hill)
1 ounce cacao infused sweet vermouth (we used martini & rossi)
1 ounce campari
How to Prepare
Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir for a minimum of 30 seconds
Strain and pour over a large clear ice cube in an old fashioned glass
For the cacao-infused sweet vermouth:
In an airtight container add 1000ml of your preferred sweet vermouth (we used Martini and Rossi) and 1 cup of cacao nibs. Let macerate for 24 hours, then strain and bottle. Will keep for a month in a cool, dark place.
Cheers!