Cocktail of the Week: The Pasión y Humo Negroni

Celebrate National Negroni Week with this twist on the classic cocktail, created by the bartenders at The London EDITION…

When it comes to the Negroni, Gentleman’s Journal is on the fence. The drink may be boldly coloured and wildly popular, but this classic cocktail — mixed into existence by Florentine bartender Fosco Scarselli in 1919 — has always seemed, to us, a little overhyped.

We get the tang. We get the bitterness. We get the memories the aperitif can evoke of warm Italian escapes and cosmopolitan hotel bars. But that taste? That acrid, acidic, eye-wincing taste? It’s overwhelmingly vinegary, venomous — and in desperate need of reinvention.

"It's in desperate need of reinvention..."

Thankfully, in time for National Negroni Week (14th – 20th September), the lobby bartenders at The London EDITION have put their mixology-minded heads together and whipped up a lip-smacking alternative. The ‘Pasión y Humo’ is a fresh twist on the traditional Negroni, adding chilli syrup and mezcal to give the cocktail a slightly South American spin.

Given its sensuous name by bartender Néstor Matos, ‘Pasión y Humo’ translates to ‘passion and smoke’ — a moniker chosen because of that smoky mescal, as well as Matos’ appetite for reinventing classics behind the bar. So, if you’re looking to raise a glass to the Negroni this weekend (but can’t quite stomach the sharpness), learn to mix this slightly sweeter option below…

How to make The London EDITION’s ‘Pasión y Humo’ Negroni

Ingredients

  • 20 ml Mezcal
  • 25ml Campari
  • 5ml Cocchi Passionfruit
  • 10ml Chilli Syrup

Method

  1. Fill a chilled mixing glass with cubed ice
  2. Pour all ingredients into the glass
  3. Stir gently for 20-30 seconds
  4. Strain into a frozen rocks glass, over a large block of ice
  5. Garnish with a sesame and fennel cracker

Want another twist on a cocktail classic? Here’s how to mix the ‘Le Sirenuse’ Yellow Tomato Bloody Mary…

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