Alton Brown's Unconventional Batch Negronis Balance Precision With Rebellion

Alton Brown gives thumbs up with glasses and beard

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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it … but no one ever said anything about not improving it. A classic Negroni comprises equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. Alton Brown’s Negroni, however, is not a classic Negroni. Fellow celebrity foodie Anthony Bourdain may have lauded the Negroni as the “perfect mixed drink.” But, in a video posted to Brown’s official Instagram, he takes a much different stance: “It’s bright, it’s balanced … and I’m a little bored.”

Brown’s outside-the-box version increases the Negroni’s typical ingredients trio to five. “The way I look at it is, I can build these teams to get more complexity,” says the foodie. “And I’m only talking about the bitter team and the sweet team.” On the bitter side, Brown adds another, second amaro into the mix: Cynar, a rusty-yet-light artichoke-based herbal liqueur, which lends greater bitter dimensionality alongside citrussy, scarlet Campari. On the sweet side, Brown also adds Carpano Punt E Mes vermouth amaro to back up the regular sweet vermouth. Dried fruity tones of prune, plum, and raisin steer the profile dry and somewhat bitter.

With these added, ultra zhuzhed up liqueurs, says Brown, the gin’s botanical notes are rendered moot (and would probably be overkill). Instead, posits the foodist, swapping the gin for neutral vodka utilitarianly increases the cocktail’s ABV to Negroni territory without competing or clashing. “I figure, with all these flavors, why use gin? Why? You’re not going to taste the juniper. At least, I’m not.”

Alton Brown’s take on the Negroni swaps gin for vodka and adds two more liqueurs into the mix

The most true-to-form aspect of Brown’s reimagined Negroni is that it follows the drink’s customary 1:1:1 ingredients ratio. For a 750 mL batched cocktail, he uses 250 mL of vodka, 250 mL of the bitter components (125 mL of Cynar and Campari), and 250 mL of the sweet components (125 mL of sweet vermouth and Punt E Mes).

The prepared batched cocktail can be stored in the fridge in an empty spirits bottle, which typically has a 750 mL capacity. Just be sure to cap the bottle with a screw-on lid to seal for freshness. To assemble, Brown simply measures and funnels his spirits directly into the empty glass bottle, gives the bottle a little shake, and chills it to serve. Garnish with an orange twist perched on the rim of a rocks glass. Taking a sip, Brown remarks, “Deep, dark, jewel-like, that’s like a Negroni turned not to 11 but to 12. Cheers.”

In the past, Brown’s avant-garde margarita recipe has low-key sparked a controversy. This time around, Brown gets ahead of potential naysayers, captioning the video, “So here’s how I batch Negronis, and yes, I get that they aren’t actually Negronis and that most of you are going to unfollow me.” Indeed, the comments section is somewhat mixed (cocktail pun intended). Whichever version you prefer, we’ve rounded up 12 more Negroni variations you need to try.