The Boulevardier and the Negroni: Cocktail Classics
I drummed my fingers on the bar at Lupa as I waited. I needed a bourbon cocktail to start my night, but with what? Tonight neither a Manhattan nor an Old Fashioned would do.
“Do you like Campari?” the bartender asked. Do I ever!
“Well, I’ve got a drink I think you’ll love, but it’s got a really embarrassing name.” Do tell!
The Boulevardier is the Colin Firth to the Negroni’s Hugh Grant; equally charming and irresistible, but with just a little bit of extra smolder.
For those of you who haven’t made the acquaintance of a Negroni, I’ll wait a minute while you pop over to your neighborhood cocktail lounge. Any bartender worth his or her rimmed salt should be able to do it.
Equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, the Negroni itself is a riff on another drink, the Americano.
Needing a little more kick than the Americano’s Campari, vermouth, and soda could offer, Count Camillo Negroni asked for his to be made with gin instead, and just like that, the man got a drink named after him.
The good Count had a stellar idea, using the herbaceous flavors of gin as counterpoint to Campari’s citrusy bite.
But the Boulevardier takes those herbal highlights and turns them on their end, using bourbon’s roasted sweetness to make the bitters the high notes of the drink rather than the low bass they provide when paired with gin.
When mixing a Boulevardier, certain cocktailers slightly increase the percentage of whiskey or decrease the Campari to find a balance that best suits their tastebuds.
I keep mine in equal portions, following the rule of thirds laid out in the original recipe in Harry McElhone’s 1927 primer Barflies and Cocktails.
Some use rye instead of bourbon, giving the cocktail a more stringent flavor profile.
Neither the Negroni nor the Boulevardier are particularly seasonal–I drink ’em year-round–and can be interspersed depending on your mood.
Writer Michael Procopio, no stranger to debauchery, calls Negronis “louche” and finds them appropriate for drinking in “swank apartments at midnight, dimly lit trysting places at any time of day, on the sly in a toney sanitarium.”
In her memoir , Blood, Bones & Butter, Prune chef Gabrielle Hamilton says a Negroni “sparks your appetite and brightens your mood, holds in balance the sweet and the bitter.”
(She also calls them “mama’s nerve tonic” as a method of dealing with her two sons.)
I’d say all those characteristics are applicable to the Boulevardier as well, but with a little more relaxed, loungey warmth.
I’ll call for a Negroni when I need a bracing start to my happy hour after a windblown blue sky day, but I’ll take a Boulevardier when I’m walking into the bar as the sun is setting and golden orange, pulling a sweater on over my sunburned shoulders.
The Boulevardier is my jumping-off point for the evening and my winding-down drink at the end of the night.
Ask for it by name and spread the gospel.
The Boulevardier Cocktail
The Boulevardier is a Campari-based cocktail based on the classic Negroni, substituting bourbon for the gin and pairing with sweet vermouth.
Ingredients
- 1 fluid ounce (2 tablespoons) bourbon
- 1 fluid ounce (2 tablespoons) Campari
- 1 fluid ounce (2 tablespoons) sweet vermouth, such as Carpano Antica
- orange twist for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Fill a coupe with ice and water, or fill a highball glass with square ice cubes.
- Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass with ice and add the bourbon, Campari, and vermouth.
- Stir gently.
- If using a coupe, discard the ice water.
- Strain the Boulevardier into the chilled coupe or over the ice in the rocks glass.
- Garnish with the orange twist, if desired.
Notes
For a Negroni, switch out the bourbon and use gin instead.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 116Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 4mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 3gSugar: 14gProtein: 1g
The nutritional information above is computer-generated and only an estimate.
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Casey Barber
Casey Barber is the owner and founder of Good Food Stories LLC and a visual storyteller whose work often focuses on the intersection of food and culture. She is also the author of the cookbooks Pierogi Love: New Takes on an Old-World Comfort Food and Classic Snacks Made from Scratch: 70 Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Brand-Name Treats, and she couldn’t get anything done without the help of her executive assistant cats, Bixby and Lenny. Her favorite color is obviously orange.
I consider it quite the achievement, Casey, that you made me want a cocktail at 9 a.m.! They both sound fabulous, but I think I’d definitely be partial to the Negroni.
I think after this weekend’s bake sale, we can kick back and celebrate with a Negroni. I’ll bring the booze!
Sounds delicious and easy to make!!! No excuses, i have to try this!
This drink looks suspiciously like a Manhattan, a drink I recently tried (David Leite’s recipe) and was reminded why I don’t drink mixed drinks anymore. I have been meaning to get a bottle of Campari though…
Lovely read, Casey, and now I’m finding myself quite parched…Imagine that!
I only have half of these ingredients in the house, so we will have to remedy that asap.
I love me a Negroni — can’t wait to try this version.
Awww… nothing like a good negroni to make me miss my Sicilian grandfather! This one is going on my list. THX!
We drink Campari a lot of ways – with soda & orange, with Prosecco, in the Negroni – they are all wonderful. I will have to try your new drink.
We were introduced to Campari in the 90’s, in Rome, at a little outdoor cafe on the Via Veneto and we have been drinking it ever since.
Fantastico.
I so enjoy reading people’s takes on the Boulevardier vs. the Negroni. And I’d say you and I are in agreement. I love to make a Boulevardier with Maker’s Mark; to my utter surprise the bourbon rounded out the drink in a most voluptuous manner. The darn thing was downright revelatory. Indeed, after drinking a Boulevardier, well maybe a couple, I came to see the Negroni in a new, very steely, pared to the bone kind of light. To finish your next Boulevardier, may I suggest a Luxardo Maraschino cherry, the perfect complement to the bourbon. Honest. And only Luxardo will do. They are made from dark Marasca cherries steeped in a divinely heavy syrup of Maraschino liqueur. If you have never tried them. I urge you to do so.
I have always liked my drinks robust.
The Boulevardier has become my Drink. Thank you for introducing it.
Btw – love the ‘broad-shouldered” allusion – very very memorable