Enzoni
Fresh and bitter: muddled grapes send the Negroni on a juicy, tart sidestep towards the gin sour.
Ingredients
- Grapes, green, to muddle6 whole
- Gin, a London Dry with clear botanical character, ideally30 ml
- Campari30 ml
- Lemon juice, freshly squeezed22.5 ml
- Simple syrup (1 part Sugar, 1 part Water)15 ml
- Orange, to garnish (optional)1 slice
- Grapes, to garnish (optional)1 whole
Method
- Fill the glass with iced water, so it chills while you prepare the drink.
- Place the seedless grapes in the bottom of a shaker and muddle them gently, releasing the juice without crushing the skins.
- Add the gin, Campari, lemon juice and simple syrup to the shaker.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for 10–15 seconds, until it is well chilled and frosted on the outside.
- Tip the iced water out of the glass, fill it with fresh ice and double-strain the drink through both a Hawthorne and a fine strainer into the glass.
- Garnish with an orange slice (and a grape on a pick, if you like) and serve at once.
About this drink
The Enzoni, usually credited to Vincenzo Errico of Milk & Honey in New York, is a modern bar classic that crosses the Negroni's bitter DNA with the freshness of a gin sour. Muddling grapes in the bottom of the shaker gives a natural sweetness and juiciness that softens the Campari's bitterness without drowning it. Its simple but elegant balance has made it a regular on contemporary cocktail menus.
Questions and answers
What kind of drink is an Enzoni?
A Negroni-inspired sour in which muddled grapes, lemon and syrup take the place of vermouth, so you get gin and Campari in a fruity, shaken form rather than the stirred classic.
Why chill the glass with iced water first?
It stops a lukewarm glass from warming the drink the moment it is strained in, a detail that makes a surprising difference to how long it stays cold and fresh.
