Blood Orange Negroni: Bittersweet Italian Gin, Campari and Vermouth Halloween Cocktail

Chill two rocks glasses in the freezer for 10 minutes and set a large ice cube in each.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 oz (60 ml) London dry gin
• 2 oz (60 ml) Campari
• 2 oz (60 ml) sweet red vermouth
• 2 oz (60 ml) freshly squeezed blood orange juice, strained
• 2 large ice cubes or spheres, for serving
• Ice, for stirring
• 2 thin blood orange wheels, for garnish
• 2 strips of blood orange peel, for the oils
• A pinch of flaky salt (optional, to soften the bitterness)

Instructions

1. Chill two rocks glasses in the freezer for 10 minutes and set a large ice cube in each.
2. Fill a mixing glass two-thirds full with ice. Add the gin, Campari, sweet vermouth and blood orange juice.
3. Stir with a bar spoon for 25 to 30 seconds, until the outside of the mixing glass is frosty and the drink is well chilled and slightly diluted.
4. Strain into the prepared glasses over the large ice cubes.
5. Hold a strip of blood orange peel skin-side down over each glass and give it a sharp pinch to spray the citrus oils across the surface, then rub the peel around the rim and drop it in.
6. Float a blood orange wheel on top of each drink so the crimson flesh shows through the dark red cocktail. Add a tiny pinch of flaky salt if you like a rounder, less bitter finish.
7. Serve immediately, and let the big ice cube melt slowly so the last sip is as good as the first.
8. The Negroni was born in Florence around 1919, when Count Camillo Negroni asked a bartender at Caffe Casoni to stiffen his Americano by swapping the soda water for gin, and the equal-parts formula has barely changed since. Blood oranges, which ripen on Sicily's volcanic slopes as the nights turn cold in late autumn, are the natural seasonal addition: their raspberry-tinged juice deepens the drink's color to a dark, dramatic red and tempers Campari's bite with a little sweetness, giving the century-old aperitivo a fittingly sinister look for Halloween night.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 240 kcal
• Protein: 0g
• Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 16g
• Fiber: 0g
• Sugar: 14g
• Sodium: 10mg