Mezcal Negroni

The Negroni's smoky, agave-forward sibling: mezcal replaces gin, adding campfire complexity to Campari's bitter orange and sweet vermouth.

Mezcal Negroni cocktail made with mezcal, served in a rocks glass
Base
mezcal
Glassware
Rocks glass
Flavor Profile
bitterstrongearthy

Ingredients

  • 1 oz mezcal
  • 1 oz Campari
  • 1 oz sweet vermouth
  • Orange peel, to garnish

Instructions

  1. 1Add mezcal, Campari, and sweet vermouth to a mixing glass with ice.
  2. 2Stir until well chilled.
  3. 3Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube and garnish with an expressed orange peel.

Origin & Story

United States, 2010s

As mezcal conquered American bar culture in the 2010s, the Mezcal Negroni became one of the first and most successful spirit-swap experiments of the craft cocktail era. Swapping gin for mezcal does more than just change the base spirit — it shifts the entire cocktail from botanical brightness into a darker, earthier register, where smoke and agave interact with Campari's bitterness in a completely different way.