Topic Index
The font size for a topic word is sized by the number of articles that reference that topic. The more articles the bigger the font.
Click on a word to search for posts with that topic. This page will reload with the search results.
Negroni Float – Barman meets Soda Jerk
Blood Orange-Campari Sorbetto in a Negroni splashed with Prosecco
The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other.
– Orson Welles on the Negroni
The Negroni (nay-GROW-nee) is perhaps the quintessential aperitivo – one part gin, one part sweet vermouth, one part Campari, all of it over ice, with an orange round. Classic cocktail lore tells us the Negroni is a direct descendant of the Milano-Torino, a drink now known as the Americano. It happened like this: in 1919 at Florence’s Caffe Casoni Count Camillo Negroni asked barman Fosco Scarselli to add a bit of fortification, un ‘po piu robusto, to his Milano-Torino. Sig. Scarselli acquiesced to his patron’s wish, adding gin in place of seltzer. The deed done, Sig. Scarselli realized the two drinks looked quite alike. With a barman’s panache he substituted an orange garnish for the Milano-Torino’s lemon… Read the remainder of this entry »
The Garibaldi Guard – the 39th New York Infantry Regiment
La Figlia del Reggimento – The Daughter of the Regiment
All’armi!
They called them Lincoln’s Foreign Legion, men from all over the world who fought on the side of the Union. Of the many foreign born patriot units, none is more well known than the 39th New York Infantry Regiment, the Garibaldi Guard.
On December 20, 1860 South Carolina seceded from the Union. A house divided. The Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter commenced before daybreak on April 12, 1861. The Civil War was on. Our nation was on a course that would sorely test the Union, pitting brother against brother and expatriot against expatriot. Read the remainder of this entry »
Solerno – Sicilian Blood Orange Liqueur
Who said you couldn’t get blood oranges in August? Trust me. You can. But first, if I gave awards for the best packaging, this decanter-like bottle from William Grant & Sons would take the Blue Ribbon. The bottle is a clear light red at its squat base, slowly darkening to a smokey red hue that travels up and over the rounded shoulders darkening even further along the thin neck up to the lip at the top. But it’s the punt, the depression in the bottom of the bottle, that wins the “How cool is this award?” Read the remainder of this entry »
Negroni sbagliato
I’m such an Armchair Traveler. Take one look at my Passport, and you’ll know I haven’t been anywhere in years. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my virtual peregrinations, brimming as they are with a wonderful combination of memories, true nostalgia and the discovery of the new. In the realm of memories and possibly even more of nostalgia are the many cocktails that have as their base that quintessential Italian beverage, Campari. The Campari cocktail with the most character is unassailably the Negroni (nay-GROW-nee), an aperitivo with a distinct point of view – herbaceous, botanical, Italian and pure alcohol. These days it seems everybody talks Negroni, but not everybody drinks Negroni. And I think it’s the gin that stops them. Ah, but drinkers walk the walk where Prosecco is concerned. Everybody drinks Prosecco. Want the allure of a Negroni, but don’t want the gin? When is a Negroni not a Negroni? Read the remainder of this entry »