Happy Hour With 3 Ingredients: Negroni Sbalato

Happy Friday, everyone, and welcome back to Happy 3 Ingredient Hour, a weekly drinks column featuring super simple yet delicious libations. This week I want to focus on the happiest mistake: Negroni Sbaliato.

Sbalato means scream in Italian, and the drink appears to have originated when a bartender mistakenly took a bottle of sparkling wine, not gin, while making a classic Negroni. (I think these bottles will be very different shapes, but who knows.)

A traditional negroni is made with equal parts campari, sweet vermouth and gin. The only change you will make is to replace the gin with sparkling wine. As we approach the pink season, I grabbed a bottle of rosé champagne, can you see how beautiful it is? To make this delicious mistake, you will need:

  • 1 1/2 ounce Campari (you can also use Aperol if you find Campari too bitter)
  • 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
  • 1 1/2 ounce sparkling wine, rosé if you want to dive into the season

There are two ways to make this drink, and I chose the less complicated method, where everyone is poured into a lochball with ice, stirred and enjoyed. If you prefer a sparkling cocktail in a flute, first pour Campari and vermouth into a tin or mug with ice and stir to cool. Strain into a flute, add bubbles on top and sip very gingerly. (Sidebar: For those discerning readers who have noticed there have been quite a few Campari cocktails, I know, and don’t worry. Next week we’ll move on to rum or tequila.)

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