In Search of the Perfect RTD Negroni: The Breakout Cocktail of the Year
Let me tell you about my dream job—my editor asked me to round up all the ready-to-drink canned and bottled negroni and spritz I could wrangle. Craft RTD’s, as they are known in the beverage industry, have been improving exponentially in recent years, and there are dozens of SKU’s currently on the market.
The Classic Negroni
At its simplest, the classic negroni recipe requires equal parts gin, red bitter apertivo, and sweet vermouth. The spritz generally replaces the gin with sparkling wine (sbagliato), soda water (americano), or both. As batched cocktails become more popular, Campari released a premixed negroni in 750 mls bottles in fall 2015. Clever drinkers followed suit in 2020 coining the term “togroni,” wherein 3-50 ml nips of Campari, vermouth, and gin are cracked and poured over ice simultaneously—a decidedly more portable (and instagram-able) way to take your beloved 3 part cocktail anywhere.
The RTD Negroni
According to ShareThis data, average month-over-month engagement (searches, clicks and shares in the US, March-May 2021) with ready-to-drink, bottled and canned alcoholic drinks is up 89 percent. I had my work cut out for me. I called in a team of cocktail experts (aka my drinking buddies) and we tasted all the examples of these Italian-ish beverages I could find.
The results were remarkable. No two cocktails were the same—beverage companies have created a broad range of highly drinkable (and imaginatively packaged) canned and bottled negroni and spritz.
Our favorites are listed below in no particular order. Although most are packaged to be tote-able, we recommended chilling and serving these over ice, or even stirring the negroni with ice (to promote dilution) and straining before serving. Saluti!
The tiny can:
Tip Top Negroni
Atlanta, GA
100 ml can, 26 % alcohol
The moment you pour this cocktail from its adorable little can, the vibrant cranberry color will win you over. A bit reminiscent of cherry Kool Aid, this boozy number lacks bitterness but offers an appealing red-hot spice.
The amaro forward:
Straightaway Negroni Spritz
Portland, OR
250 ml can 13% alcohol
This spritz glows like beer in the glass, and has a lingering bitter edge from Straightaway’s house amari. Tastes most like a Sbagliato, that wonderful “mistake” that subs prosecco for gin, and we’re not mad about it. Their bottled negroni, perfect for the baking spice lover, has a lovely burnt orange hue and an autumnal, amaro-forward flavor. Delicious but lacking the herbal notes we look for in a gin based cocktail.
The collaboration:
Dante NYC & Five Drinks Co 2.0 Americano
Bend, OR
200 ml can 9.5% alcohol
The robust cola flavor of this collaboration between Dante, the beloved (and historic) Greenwich Village cocktail bar and longtime cocktail canner Five Drinks Co, would be great on the rocks.
The mixologist:
BTL SVC Negroni
Los Angeles, CA
100 ml /375 ml bottle 28% alcohol
Nathan Oliver makes classic cocktails, so his negroni consists of the classics--Carpano Antica Vermouth, Campari and London dry gin.
Our favorite of the RTD’s in the category offered great color, smoothness, and appropriate booziness. A taster declared this mixologist-made cocktail the “most negroniest” because it tastes like what you get at the bar.
The California dreamer:
Vervet Angelicano
Los Angeles, CA
355 ml can 8% alcohol
Although some tasters found this can distractingly menthol-y, we loved this herbal and floral fizzy “LApertivo” crafted from housemade red bitters and white vermouth.
The boxed cocktail maestro:
St. Agrestis Negroni
Brooklyn, NY
100 ml bottle 24 % alcohol
Crafted from the house’s red bitter and Greenhook gin, this balanced little drink from the maker of Brooklyn’s original large format boxed negroni came forth quite true to style. Coming soon from St. Agrestis: a frozen negroni pop and a “phony negroni” with no alcohol.
The OG:
Campari Negroni
Milan, Italy
750 ml. 26% alcohol
Campari led the way with this bottled negroni formulated according to the “ricetta originale,” combining Campari, vermouth rosso, and London dry gin. Comes through straightforward and delicious, although it may be dangerously convenient to have a large quantity of well-made negroni always at the ready.
The mother country:
Fred Jerbis Negroni Cocktail
Polcenigo, Italy
200 ml bottle, 25% alcohol
A factory directly west of Slovenia and north of Venice, Opificio Fred uses their own Vermut25, Bitter 34 and Gin 43 to create an elegant blend.
Brown and bitter, and definitely the most grownup of the bunch, plus each drink comes labeled with bottling date and batch number.
The collection:
Perla Cocktails Negroni Classico
Washington, DC
200 ml. bottle, 23% alcohol
Francesco Amadeo has been creating a wide range of delightful Italianate amari, apertivi, and digestivi at Don Ciccio & Figli for years now, and his new line of RTD’s reflect that experience. Deeply spiced and bitter, the Perla Negroni is made with Luna apertivo, a red bitter from the collection. Perla also makes an even bitter-er Negroni Bianco Oro with Don Ciccio’s Cinque apertivo, and a citrus-y canned spritz made with their herbal Ambrosia apertivo.
The tee-totaler:
Curious Elixirs
Curious No. 1 Pomegranate Negroni
Hudson River Valley, NY
12 oz bottle, 0% alcohol
This line of “booze-free craft cocktails” from Brooklyn is packed with herbal adaptogens to relieve stress without alcohol. Poured over a giant ice cube and topped with citrus twist, this dry refresher, though not terribly reminiscent of the original cocktail, is delightfully unsweet and pomegranate-y.