June 1-7 is #NegroniWeek, worldwide. What’s a negroni, you ask? We’ll explain in a bit, but more importantly, order this cocktail and some of the proceeds will go to charity organisations.

Why: Negroni Week is a week-long charity initiative created in 2013 by Imbibe magazine (US) with the goal of celebrating one of the world’s great cocktails while raising money for charity. It started with 100 bars in the US, and the following year 1,300 bars from across 18 countries took part – including one ice cream shop.

How: The campaign reached over 86m people on Twitter alone and raised over US$120,000, with the #NegroniWeek hashtag exploding on social media. On the first day of Negroni Week, there was a #NegroniWeek tweet every 30 seconds.

Who: Bars in Singapore – Ah Sam Cold Drink Stall, Bitters & Love, KU DÉ TA, Manhattan, and Tess Bar & Kitchen and The Secret Mermaid – join the third #NegroniWeek in 2015 to help raise money for a charity of their choice.

What: Is a negroni? Good question. It’s a classic cocktail with the simplest recipe, consisting of only three ingredients:  1 part (30ml) Campari + 1 part (30ml) sweet red vermouth + 1 part (30ml) gin, garnished with an orange peel.

It was created by chance in Florence around 1920 by Count Camillo Negroni. The count had asked a bartender to add gin to his favourite cocktail the Americano, instead of the usual soda water. Said barman also switched the lemon garnish for an orange peel to set the cocktails apart – and the aperitif was an instant hit. It prompted director Orson Welles to say (when he visited Rome in 1947): “The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other.”

The modern negroni more of less adheres to the recipe (that’s the point of a classic cocktail, and this blend is over a century old. Here’s another famous cocktail that just turned 100), but craft bartenders all over the world, including Singapore no less, make little tweaks to give it their own flourish.

Knut Randhem of Ku De Ta says, “The Ku De Ta Signature Negroni (above) is created as a spiced-up bitter negroni. It is pre-bottled to allow the ingredients to marry and get a consistent flavour. The proportion is four parts gin (Tanqueray 10), two parts Campari, two parts sweet vermouth (Martini Rosso), 1 part Fernet Branca (a type of bitter herbal liqueur), and 1 part cherry brandy.”

Bartender Sam Wong of Ah Sam Cold Drinks Stall makes the Cheng Tng Negroni: Campari, pu’er infused Bankes gin and longan sweet vermouth.

Steve Leong of Tess Bar created the Tess Negroni: Campari, Bankes gin, Cinzano rosso vermouth sous vide with almonds and pandan leaves.

Luke Whearty of Operation Dagger (not taking part) adds a pinch of salt in their negroni to lift the flavours up, while MeatLiquor uses Aperol in their New Negroni (Aperol has an alcohol content of 11%  – less than half of Campari, and it’s also milder and less bitter). At LongPlay they use two parts gin to make a really bracing delicious cocktail.

We could go on, but we’d be here all night and we’d rather you be out at the bars, drinking negronis all week, and contributing to a worthy cause.

More info at Negroni Week

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