Negroni Sbagliato with Mr

The Negroni Sbagliato is a twist on the classic Italian cocktail, Negroni. This alcohol-forward drink is made with equal parts gin, sweet red vermouth, and the Italian liqueur, Campari.

The Negroni was actually inspired by another cocktail made with sweet red vermouth and Campari — the Americano. The main difference is that it uses club soda instead of gin. In 1919, at Caffé Casoni in Florence, Italy, a man named Count Camillo Negroni asked his bartender friend to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the Americano, by using gin instead of soda. To show the difference between this new drink and the Americano, the bartender also decided to use a different garnish, an orange slice instead of lemon — and that’s how legend says the Negroni was born.

So, where does the Negroni Sbagliato come from? Sbagliato means “mistake” in Italian — which is exactly how this drink was created. The story is that a bartender in Milan accidentally used Prosecco instead of gin when making a Negroni for a customer. It was a good mistake though, because it made for a crisp and refreshing cocktail that is not nearly as boozy as the original Negroni. If you think a Negroni is too strong, you might find that you love a Negroni Sbagliato.