Happy Birthday to me!

The Boo Lion turned one last week, so I decided to get busy with the power tools and do a little deconstruction work.

But first, some thanks to those of you who have helped me during my first year, and yes, I mean you, the readers. I’m very grateful to my friends, and anyone who stopped by to read this blog. I’m always pleasantly surprised when I run into a friend I haven’t seen in a while, and they say how they’re enjoying reading my blog. The even greater surprising pleasure was the wonderful kindness and support from complete strangers in the cocktail blogging community. I hadn’t even read blogs before I started this one, and I was amazed at how nice and friendly other bloggers can be.

Thanks a lot guys!

Anyway, after a year it’s about time to pull out the power tools in service of mixology.

Last week, I blogged about Negronis. I left out one of the most fun – the Deconstructed Negroni.

The Deconstructed Negroni has nothing to do with Derrida and postmodernism. It’s about separating out some of the ingredients through the technology of molecular mixology, specifically nitrous canisters to create foam. I know it doesn’t sound like a job for the average kitchen cocktailian, but don’t despair, there is another method!

The Deconstructed Negroni is made by Charlotte Voisey as a version of her Unusual Negroni, which I featured last week, but with the Aperol being made into a foam that sits on top of the gin and Lillet Blanc mix.

If, like me, you don’t have nitrous canisters, you can use a whisk. Eric Felten recommends using a sturdy wide mixing glass, and rubbing a small whisk between your hands like a boy scout rubbing a stick to make fire. I don’t have a small whisk, and I wasn’t very happy with my resulting foam (although it was still quite passable). Electric whisks are very expensive in this country. Electric whisk heads are not. Neither are power drills.

Oh, yeah! That’s the way I do it.

I can’t believe I waited a year to use power tools in the service of the cocktail arts.

The Deconstructed Negroni

1 1/2 oz gin

1 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc

Aperol foam

Lightly stir gin and Lillet over ice in a rocks glass. Spoon Aperol foam on top.

Aperol Foam

1 oz Aperol

1 egg white

2 oz strained grapefruit juice

2 tsp orange bitters*

Whisk ingredients into a frothy foam (with whisk, electric beater or power drill).

First of all 2 teaspoons of orange bitters is a hell of a lot! I like my Angostura Orange Bitters, but they’re very strong, and can easily overpower a drink. I used two small dashes, and less would have been fine. But you certainly want some, as I think orange is very important in a Negroni.

As with the Unusual Negroni, you want a light and/or citrusy gin with this one – Plymouth and Hendricks work well.

Finally if, you don’t have Aperol and Lillet, you can use the usual Negroni ingredients – sweet vermouth and Campari. This makes a good drink, but the Aperol and Lillet combo is better.

The drink is a winner! It’s fun to make, good to look at or show off, and delicious to drink.

Addendum

A final Negroni variation I neglected to mention is apparently quite chic in cocktail circles now, but I don’t have ingredients for it. It’s the White Negroni. Putney Farm has a great article about it, and Jason Wilson has a recipe in the Washington Post. I’m on holiday for a couple of weeks, and checking out a few of Wellington’s cocktail bars. Maybe I’ll get a chance to try one.