Start Negroni Month Early With a Mezcal Negroni Tonic

Here’s the thing about Labor Day weekend: Ideally, you want to do as little labor as possible. 

That extends to cocktails, too. You don’t want to work too hard. But you do want to drink well. 

Two of the easiest, tastiest in the cocktail canon are the Gin & Tonic and the Negroni.

So this holiday weekend, we are going to combine the two by making a Negroni Tonic — or, for those so inclined, a Mezcal Negroni Tonic. 

It’s just a Negroni, or a Mezcal Negroni, but with the addition of tonic water. 

These drinks will appeal to those who like this idea of a sparkly, gently bitter Aperol Spritz, but wish it had more bite. They’re perfect for anyone who enjoys an Americano, but wants something with greater depth of flavor.  

Whichever version you choose, you will end up with a simple, refreshing, effervescent, bittersweet, and crushably delicious way to end the summer. 

This pair of long-weekend Negroni Tonics — Negronis Tonic? — bookends the summer, a nod back to the Gin & Tonic we started with. It’s a sharp transition away from the sweet, juicy, shaken drinks of summer, and an introduction to this newsletter’s next series of drinks. 

September, of course, is the calendar home of Negroni Week, a celebration of one of the greatest cocktails sponsored by the good folks at Campari and Imbibe. 

But I love Negronis so much that one week just isn’t enough. So as in previous years, we’ll be making Negronis and Negroni variations for the entire month. Starting today.

Yes, I am aware that it’s still August.

There are just so many delicious variations on the spirit/sweet vermouth/amaro formula that I cannot possibly contain myself to a single week.

Honestly, it will be a challenge for me to limit myself to just one month. 

True Negroni heads will probably recognize a few of this year’s featured Negroni-esque drinks. But there will be several under-the-radar drinks that aren’t widely known but should be, including several of my favorite new-to-me drinks of 2024. 

And for all the tinkerers and ingredient swappers on the subscriber list, we will be doing some fun re-engineering, taking apart some drinks with more exotic ingredients and rebuilding them with somewhat more home-bar friendly specs. 

But for now, sit back and relax with a low-labor Labor Day cocktail, a bittersweet, boozy spritz that takes the spirit/sweet/bitter Negroni format and turns it into a long drink, a sort of a highball, a bubbly, bitter aperitif. 

It’s Not a Gin & Tonic. It’s a Gin, Sweet Vermouth, Campari & Tonic.

The classic Negroni, of course, is made with equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari. Structurally, it’s a triangle: The gin is the foundation, the base, and the sweet vermouth and Campari are balanced against each other.

My preference is to slightly increase the proportion of gin relative to the other ingredients, emphasizing the spirit base while slightly reducing the syrupy sweetness of the other two ingredients. 

For our Negroni Tonic, we will alter those proportions a bit more, mostly to account for the tonic water, which has to become part of the balance.

People sometimes think of tonic as being something like a lightly bitter club soda, or a seltzer with quinine. 

But it has a fair amount of sugar/sweetness to it too, hence the soda-like calorie count. 

So we will reduce both the sweet vermouth and Campari portions to account for the introduction of tonic. 

The other trick with this drink is to pour the tonic into an ice-filled glass first — and then pour the Negroni mix in on top. 

You’ve probably seen cocktail recipe instructions with soda water or tonic “to top.”  Well, you can think of this as tonic “to bottom.” ¹

Not only does this produce a pleasing “sunset effect,” with the boozy-pink Negroni portion briefly hanging at the top and then slowly settling down through the tonic, painting the mix as it goes, it gives you a better integrated drink, so the boozy portion doesn’t get buried at the bottom of the mix. (We used a version of this technique to achieve the separated layers in last summer’s Barbenheimer cocktail.)

When selecting ingredients, try to focus on the spirit/sweet vermouth combo, since those are the ingredients where you will have the most choice. Although this template is forgiving enough that you can get away with most any gin or mezcal, and most any sweet vermouth, there are some pairings that work much better. Not all sweet vermouth is created equal! 

• For a gin Negroni Tonic, I’m partial to either Beefeater or Ford’s gin in the base slot, and the berry-rich Cocchi Di Torino for the sweet vermouth slot. 

• For a mezcal Negroni Tonic, I like Del Maguey Vida for the mezcal, and the light and fruity Dolin Rouge for the sweet vermouth. 

For the tonic, I know that some people are extremely partial to Fever Tree. Fever Tree makes good stuff, but tonic is an ingredient where I’ve never been unhappy with the less expensive, mass market brands: I am just as likely to use good old Schweppes as any of the premium options. 

As for the amaro/red bitter slot, I tend to stick with Campari — it is, after all, a Negroni. (Cynar is of course very good too. It always is.) 

Once you have the ingredients in hand, this will take, at most, a minute to make. It’s definitely not too much work — it’s just a tasty Labor Day cocktail that earns its keep. 

Negroni Tonic 

• 3 ounces tonic water, to bottom 

• ½ ounce sweet vermouth, preferably Cocchi do Torino

• ¾ ounce Campari

• 1 ¼ ounce dry gin, preferably Beefeater or Ford’s

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a mixing glass, combine gin, vermouth, and Campari. 

2. Separately, in a tall Collins or other serving glass, add ice, then tonic to bottom. 

3. Pour Negroni mix (gin, vermouth, Campari) on top of the tonic. 

4. Garnish with an orange peel. Enjoy! 

Mezcal Negroni Tonic 

• 3 ounces tonic water, to bottom 

• ½ ounce sweet vermouth, preferably Dolin Rouge

• ¾ ounce Campari

• 1 ¼ ounce mezcal, preferably Del Maguey Vida 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a mixing glass, combine mezcal, vermouth, and Campari. 

2. Separately, in a tall Collins or other serving glass, add ice, then tonic to bottom. 

3. Pour Mezcal Negroni mix (mezcal, vermouth, Campari) on top of the tonic.

4. Garnish with a grapefruit peel. Enjoy!

The Big Gal Is Ready for Fall

1. “To bottom” is a very useful phrase that I cannot claim credit for. I got it from Toby Maloney of The Violet Hour in his excellent book The Bartender’s Manifesto.