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Beau DuBois, Corner Door (Culver City), L.A. USA

“This is one of my favorite Negroni variations we’ve offered at The Corner Door. When I designed the cocktail, I was thinking, “I love Mezcal and I love a good Negroni. Now, a Mezcal Negroni is good but it’s still just a Mezcal cocktail wearing a Negroni costume. I decided to modify the Campari so that the recipe would be driven by the Mezcal’s presence.  Infusing the Campari with Pineapple and Cinnamon acts as a ‘tip of the hat’ to the Mezcal, providing complementary flavors without masking or blurring the balance,” Beau DuBois

60 ml (2 oz) Fidencio Clasico Mezcal

30 ml (1 oz) Pineapple & Cinnamon-infused Campari*

30 ml (1 oz) Dolin Sweet Vermouth

2 orange twists, as garnish

Stir over ice and strain into a double old-fashioned glass over a large, clear ice cube.  Add the garnishes.

*Pineapple & Cinnamon-infused Campari

1 pineapple

3 cinnamon sticks

1 750-ml bottle of Campari

Remove stalk, skin and core of pineapple and rough chop into 2″ chunks. Place inside a 1 gallon jar.  Toast the cinnamon sticks until they are smoldering and place inside the jar with pineapple chunks.  Add the Campari and seal the jar.

After 24 hours, remove cinnamon, then reseal the jar.

After 72 hours, strain out the pineapple through a double layer of dampened cheesecloth, making sure to press the juice out of the chunks, and bottle.

gaz sez:   I spotted this recipe on chilledmagazine.com, and immediately sought out Beau DuBois to ask him to submit it to 101BNC.  It was a good thing to do—this drink is pretty fabulous, and it’s very more-ish, so be careful—it can be fairly lethal, too.

 SUBMIT your recipe for consideration HERE

Find the 101 Best New Cocktails App, and the book, right HERE