Imbibe’s tenth annual Negroni Week is coming up soon (Monday, September 12 through Sunday, September 18) — To celebrate, we’ve rounded up information and recipes from the Official Bourbon of Negroni Week, Coopers’ Craft Bourbon, and a bevy of unique and classic on-premise libations from top bartenders across the country, including innovative Negronis from the Philadelphia-based Rex at The Royal and Art in the Age, as well as Seattle hot spots Boat Bar, Liberty Bar, and Stella — whose low- and no-gronis highlight The Pathfinder Hemp and Root.
Read on to learn about Negroni Weeks’s roots, charitable alignment, and where to get your hands on one!
COOPERS’ CRAFT: THE OFFICIAL BOURBON OF NEGRONI WEEK
For the first time ever, Coopers’ Craft Kentucky Straight Bourbon will join forces with Campari and Imbibe for Negroni Week, 2022 as the Official Bourbon of Negroni Week. Introduced in 2016 as Brown-Forman’s newest bourbon brand in 20 years, Coopers’ Craft expanded in 2019 with the introduction of Coopers’ Craft 100-proof Barrel Reserve, which presents perfectly in a Boulevardier – the bourbon drinker’s negroni. This year marks the 95th anniversary of the Boulevardier first appearing in Harry’s 1927 bar guide, Barflies and Cocktails.
Taking place in bars and restaurants from September 12 through September 18, this year’s Negroni Week will bring together venues around the world to raise money for a range of charitable causes, bringing Negroni Week’s fundraising total to over $3 million to date. In Coopers’ Craft’s inaugural year as the official bourbon sponsor of Negroni Week, they have donated $5,000 to Slow Food, which has been chosen as the official Negroni Week giving partner. Slow Food has a global footprint, with chapters and initiatives in countries and cities all over the world, and most fittingly, it is an organization with roots in Italy, the birthplace of the Negroni.
Honoring the men and women who raise the barrels, Coopers’ Craft celebrates the company’s more than 70 years of barrel-making and wood expertise as the only major distiller that owns its own new barrel cooperage. Both bourbons begin with the same spirit but are aged using different wood techniques from the barrel resulting in final products with distinctively different flavor profiles – ranging from light and gentle to bold and robust.
In celebration of the bourbon’s accolade, Coopers’ Craft recently hosted a Boulevardier Master Class, hosted by Coopers’ Craft Mixologist,Fitz Bailey, at New York City’s chic Midtown Pebble Bar. The event, equal parts history lesson, workshop, and guided tasting experience, included a presentation on the Boulevardier’s conception and a step-by-step Boulevardier crafting demonstration by Bailey, where attendees stirred and sipped their way through their own hand-made Boulevardiers.
See the below recipes, all courtesy of Fitz Bailey, Coopers’ Craft Mixologist, for at-home sipping and mixing inspiration!
Courtesy of Fitz Bailey, Coopers’ Craft Mixologist
WHERE TO ENJOY A NEGRONI (OR LOW-/NO-GRONI) NATIONWIDE DURING NEGRONI WEEK
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The Classic ($14) — Gin, Campari, Sweet Vermouth
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The Royal ($18) — Chicory-Infused Bluecoat Barrel Aged Gin, Forthave Red, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
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Summer Child ($14) — Muddy River Spiced Carolina Rum, Gran Classico, Rainwater Madiera, House Orange Bitters
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Wear After Labor Day ($16) — Forthave Blue Gin, Letherbee Besk, Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth
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Boulevardier ($15) — Coopers’ Craft Barrel Reserve, Campari, Sweet Vermouth
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After Dark — Peach and Strawberry Infused Gin, Becherovka, Sweet Vermouth — This libation is only available at the ticketed Negroni Night event at Rex at The Royal.
- Lavender Negroni ($14) — Snug Harbor Gin Infused with Plum & Lemongrass, Dolin Dry Vermouth, Campari, Lavender Lemon Balm Bitters, Tonic
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Pathfinder Negroni ($14) — Negroni with The Pathfinder Hemp and Root, Seedlip Garden, and Giffard Aperitif Syrup
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N/Agroni ($16) — The Pathfinder Hemp and Root, Giffard Aperitif Syrup, honey, peach bitters, topped with tonic
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Fae Elixir ($10) — “Booze Free Manhattan” — The Pathfinder Hemp and Root, Lyre’s American Malt Non-Alcoholic Whiskey, Giffard Aperitif Syrup
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ABV: Zero Proof Spirit
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Bottle Size: 23.7 fl. oz. (700 ml)
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Flavor Profile/Tasting Notes: Bittersweet and gently tart, The Pathfinder Hemp and Root features foremost the distinctive flavor of hemp, balanced out with many of the common herbs, barks, and roots common in traditional amaros and gins. Root cellar aromas highlighted by dried herbs, gentle warming spice, bittersweet citrus, and pine, with a bracing finish.
For more information, please visitwww.drinkthepathfinder.com, for inspiration on all things alchemy check out @drinkthepathfinder, and for press inquiries, please reach out: kylie@punchmedia.biz.
Photo Credit to Punch Media/Lex Nemchenko