No A Negroni

St Agrestis

Nov 29

No A Phony Negroni cocktail — No A Negroni (Phony Negroni by St Agrestis)

I’m toasting a tremendously mind boggling box that makes you certain there can be no way to open it with a different kind of cocktail trick and a play on words. For the “No Way” box, I thought it might be clever to offer a “No A” cocktail. I’m a big fan of the classic Negroni, a boozy combination of gin, vermouth and Campari. Each component in the drink has distinct flavors and substance which contribute to the whole experience. It is almost inconceivable to imagine a non-alcoholic version of the cocktail that could actually fool you and satisfy a true connoisseur. That would be a really good trick.

I’ve actually dabbled in this space before, with the “Unlocked Negroni”, a drink that comes pretty close to achieving the goal. It uses a non-alcoholic “spirit” which has been distilled in a process similar to how acoholic spirits are made, but of course without the booze. These free spirited alternatives are very popular and there are many choices, but none that I had tried really captured the depth and flavor of true booze, for better or worse. For the “No A Negroni” I therefore thought I would start with a bottled non-alcoholic Negroni (with the best name ever) produced by Brooklyn distiller St. Agrestis, and modify it with a number of additional non-alcoholic options like a homemade bitter syrup. But after much experimentation, the truth is that their bottled cocktail is perfectly convincing. It’s definitely the best faux Negroni I’ve had, and I’d be a fool to fiddle with it further. There’s just No Way to make it better - cheers!