Fair question. It’s certainly Negroni-ish. But the base is heavily tilted toward gin, the Cynar is an accent, and it’s served up, which to my mind makes it more like a Martjni/Martinez variation than a Negroni.
But to your point, one can also reasonably argue that the Negroni is functionally a Martini/Martinez type drink with a split base of gin and Campari.
Ahhh. The role of ratios and the way it is served have not been on my radar when thinking about drink taxonomy. I learned a lot in this short response.
I wanted a drink with Cynar tonight. And like a NYTimes Recipe review, I only had sort of the ingredients. But my riff was tasty. Cynar. Spanish Vermut chilled and open already. Limited gin, so the cherry in the recipe had me decide to use Bloody Shiraz Gin instead of an Italian inspired gin from a local distillery. It made a great drink. Someday I will need to make the actual recipe. PS Substack it’d. Be great if you could search in the app vs needing to use browser.
Thank you! Another great cocktail for the bitter gal. I discovered Cynar last fall and have been loving it ever since. There was a question about Negronis, and it has a similar flavors, but is much more intense. This is a tiny-sip-at-a-time cocktail for me.
I finally broke down and bought Cynar to make this (my husband “another aperitif in our fridge?!”) and it’s delicious. I think we may be Cynar converts.
the more cynar the better, I usually think, but this works as an accent. I do think it is basically an improved version of Negroni. Any other gins that you like here? I've been trying to clear the more "artisanal" varieties I have out and they're not playing well with the amari.
Beefeater is the original call, but this will work with most any decent London dry: Ford's, Old Raj (red label), and Boodles will all deliver pretty classic versions of this without huge departures from the original flavor profile. Junipero and Tanqueray are both a little more aggressive, but will make good versions. Bluecoat (different from Reisetbauer Blue Gin) will highlight citrus notes. Hope this is helpful!
Quite! Ford's has worked well so far; a few small batch gins less so. Bluecoat sounds like an interesting twist as I've wondered about either citrus generally, very slight zest or expressing a lemon/meyer lemon over this but haven't yet.
Yeah, Cynar 70 is just a 70 proof/35 abv version. It's a little punchier, a little stiffer, and is thus sometimes thought of as more suitable as a base or co-base ingredient. (IMO, regular Cynar makes a surprisingly good base for low-ABV drinks all on its own.) But it's actually pretty rare to see 70 used these days. Whenever you see "Cynar" without any further specification, that means the lower proof stuff.
What size coupe glass do you usually serve a drink like this in? I have one that’s about 6 ounces that feels too big, and we found some cool vintage ones that are just a little too small (about 3oz, although they work great for a straight amaro nightcap...).
These glasses are specifically the Viski angled Nick & Nora glasses, which are listed at 6 ounces but seem smaller in practice. (I have not independently measured.)
For the most part, when serving drinks like this to groups, I use 5.5 ounce coupe glasses -- either Libbey or Luminarc -- which I find are the most versatile, most reliable glasses for cocktails served up.
Explain to me why this is not a negroni? Cynar and Campari are pretty close cousins aren't they?
Fair question. It’s certainly Negroni-ish. But the base is heavily tilted toward gin, the Cynar is an accent, and it’s served up, which to my mind makes it more like a Martjni/Martinez variation than a Negroni.
But to your point, one can also reasonably argue that the Negroni is functionally a Martini/Martinez type drink with a split base of gin and Campari.
Ahhh. The role of ratios and the way it is served have not been on my radar when thinking about drink taxonomy. I learned a lot in this short response.
I wanted a drink with Cynar tonight. And like a NYTimes Recipe review, I only had sort of the ingredients. But my riff was tasty. Cynar. Spanish Vermut chilled and open already. Limited gin, so the cherry in the recipe had me decide to use Bloody Shiraz Gin instead of an Italian inspired gin from a local distillery. It made a great drink. Someday I will need to make the actual recipe. PS Substack it’d. Be great if you could search in the app vs needing to use browser.
Thank you! Another great cocktail for the bitter gal. I discovered Cynar last fall and have been loving it ever since. There was a question about Negronis, and it has a similar flavors, but is much more intense. This is a tiny-sip-at-a-time cocktail for me.
The ingredients of Campari are a trade secret ("infusion of bitter herbs"), but I'm guessing it doesn't include cardoon. Or maybe it does?
I finally broke down and bought Cynar to make this (my husband “another aperitif in our fridge?!”) and it’s delicious. I think we may be Cynar converts.
Glad you are enjoying! I am always glad and heartened when others discover the good news of Cynar.
If it helps, we don't keep our Cynar in the fridge. Should we?
You do not need to keep Cynar in the fridge.
The fridge is for vermouth, Sherry, and port -- after they are opened.
the more cynar the better, I usually think, but this works as an accent. I do think it is basically an improved version of Negroni. Any other gins that you like here? I've been trying to clear the more "artisanal" varieties I have out and they're not playing well with the amari.
Beefeater is the original call, but this will work with most any decent London dry: Ford's, Old Raj (red label), and Boodles will all deliver pretty classic versions of this without huge departures from the original flavor profile. Junipero and Tanqueray are both a little more aggressive, but will make good versions. Bluecoat (different from Reisetbauer Blue Gin) will highlight citrus notes. Hope this is helpful!
Quite! Ford's has worked well so far; a few small batch gins less so. Bluecoat sounds like an interesting twist as I've wondered about either citrus generally, very slight zest or expressing a lemon/meyer lemon over this but haven't yet.
Apparently there are multiple proofs of Cynar. Is this calling for the 33 proof one?
Either way, I may have trouble finding it in our woeful ABC state.
Yeah, Cynar 70 is just a 70 proof/35 abv version. It's a little punchier, a little stiffer, and is thus sometimes thought of as more suitable as a base or co-base ingredient. (IMO, regular Cynar makes a surprisingly good base for low-ABV drinks all on its own.) But it's actually pretty rare to see 70 used these days. Whenever you see "Cynar" without any further specification, that means the lower proof stuff.
What size coupe glass do you usually serve a drink like this in? I have one that’s about 6 ounces that feels too big, and we found some cool vintage ones that are just a little too small (about 3oz, although they work great for a straight amaro nightcap...).
These glasses are specifically the Viski angled Nick & Nora glasses, which are listed at 6 ounces but seem smaller in practice. (I have not independently measured.)
https://amzn.to/3ofcybG
I only have a couple of these.
For the most part, when serving drinks like this to groups, I use 5.5 ounce coupe glasses -- either Libbey or Luminarc -- which I find are the most versatile, most reliable glasses for cocktails served up.
Thanks!