As Sporkful fans already know, the Negroni is among my favorite cocktails. The other night it came to me in a dream. But at one point the dream took an unusual turn. A bottle of rum asked me if it could stand in for gin. (Note: this was not a talking bottle of rum with a mouth. That would be creepy. It spoke telepathically, kind of like how the Beastmaster talks to the animals.) Dream Mark acquiesced, but tragically, I woke up before taking a taste.
A couple days later I mixed it in my waking state. The result surprised me.
It's actually good, which wasn't honestly expected. I'm a big fan of swapping rum in for bourbon in cocktails such at the Manhattan or Old Fashioned (halve the sugar in that one, though, rum is sweet enough). But I've never tried that with gin. But in fact, it works alright, and the sweetness of the rum could make the (name TK) a fine gateway drink to a Negroni, as its overall bitterness is lower. Those who hate bitter flavor might like this Negroni-inspired rum cocktail. And then you'll be able to sell them on the awesomeness of the Negroni. I did a straight substitution for gin, so it's equal parts rum-Campari-sweet vermouth. I think I might try it with a bit less Campari in the future. So is this concoction a dream or nightmare? Let me know what you think, and either way, give me a good name for it. /mark
It's actually good, which wasn't honestly expected. I'm a big fan of swapping rum in for bourbon in cocktails such at the Manhattan or Old Fashioned (halve the sugar in that one, though, rum is sweet enough). But I've never tried that with gin. But in fact, it works alright, and the sweetness of the rum could make the (name TK) a fine gateway drink to a Negroni, as its overall bitterness is lower. Those who hate bitter flavor might like this Negroni-inspired rum cocktail. And then you'll be able to sell them on the awesomeness of the Negroni. I did a straight substitution for gin, so it's equal parts rum-Campari-sweet vermouth. I think I might try it with a bit less Campari in the future. So is this concoction a dream or nightmare? Let me know what you think, and either way, give me a good name for it. /mark
