Mike's Mix: The Heyday Negroni For Negroni Week
Negroni Week launched in 2013 as a celebration of one of the world's great cocktails and an effort to raise money for charitable causes around the world. From 2013-14, the week grew from more than 100 participating venues to more than 1,300 and more than $120,000 raised for charities.
This week in Mike's Mix, Mike Augustyniak checks out the Negroni cocktail at Heyday in Minneapolis.
The Heyday Negroni
- 1 ½ oz Tanqueray gin
- ¾ oz Campari
- ½ oz Punt e Mes vermouth
- ½ oz Tattersall Orange Crema
- 3 to 4 dashes of Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and still until chilled (about 30 seconds). Strain into a low ball glass over new ice. Serve with a rip of orange peel for garnish.
Taste Test
Heyday manager and bartender Mike Lecy says that there are two types of Negroni recipes -- one contains equal parts of gin, vermouth and Campari, and is best served on the rocks. The other (called a 'stepladder') is designed to highlight the gin by 'stepping down' the amount of vermouth compared to gin, and 'stepping down' the amount of Campari to vermouth.
The Heyday Negroni uses the latter method, which produces a less-bitter version of the drink that Mike calls the "kiddy version" of a Negroni (in name only; no one under the legal drinking age should try one!). Tattersall's Orange Crema (with a vibrant orange flavor comparable to an orange cello) and a healthy amount of orange bitters really set off the orange flavor in the Campari in this one.
The cocktail is on the menu as part of Negroni Week from June 6 to 12, 2016. Negroni Week is a worldwide fundraiser for charity, in which participating bars donate a portion of proceeds from the sale of every Negroni. Heyday will be supporting Second Harvest Heartland all week.
A kick-off event will also be held at Heyday on Monday, June 6 from 7 to 11 p.m. A $20 donation at the door will benefit Share our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign, and will include drink tickets and the chance to win prizes in a raffle. An additional $5 donation at the door will get you a limited-edition Negroni Week T-shirt!
To see all 26 participating bars and charities in the Twin Cities, visit negroniweek.com, or click here to download a guidebook from the Twin Cities chapter of the U.S. Bartenders Guild.
