We're Pouring 'Neighbor Negronis' for Cocktail Hour
"Be a good neighbor and leave some on a porch. Or, drink to deal with whatever terrible thing your not-good neighbor has freshly done.”
Happy Friday, y’all. We made it to Cocktail Hour!
Lovey and I are down in Cincinnati for the weekend to explore and see the exhibit of Georgia O’Keeffe’s photographs at the Cincinnati Museum of Art.
Plus, we’re drinking our way through the Over the Rhine neighborhood and dining at two of this year’s semifinalists for the James Beard Awards: Mita’s, which is up for Outstanding Restaurant in the country, and Nolia Kitchen, which is being considered for Best New Restaurant in the country.
Oh, and we’re gonna see Fiona and Fritz, the young hippos at the Cincinnati Zoo! Squee!
It’s also a research trip for future love letters from the bars and hearts of the Midwest. Already, I’m curious about the city’s history, the Over the Rhine neighborhood’s development and issues of equity and inclusion, and the fact that the park by our Airbnb has been adopted by the Saudi Arabian Students Association. I just love that.
So while Lovey, Lincoln the #bougiebull and I are up to shenanigans, I’m turning this week’s cocktail over to Friend Shana. She’ll never steer you wrong.
Cheers! 🥃
What I’m Drinking: Neighbor Negronis
Pretty soon Amy is going to tell you all about Plaguesgiving and you’re going to meet a boozy living room full of my neighbors. They are the actual best. Friendly, chatty and up for anything. Our neighbor drinks nights are the sort of raucous cocktail parties you cannot manufacture. A
group field trip to the dive bar at the end of the block is presently in the works.
They are also the kindest group of people ever to be thrown together by real estate. The sort of people who will take out the trash when you’re out of town, bring over baked goods for no reason and help carry heavy things unsolicited.
Recently, neighbor Zack has gotten very invested in one of my favorite hobbies: fancy at home cocktails. Infusions, acid adjusted orange juice, bottles ordered from far flung corners of the world.
Last week he left his most recent project on our back porch – a strawberry-and-cacao- infused Negroni. I was delighted to be his test subject because I love a Negroni. (Also, neighbors that leave booze at your door = glorious!) It is delicious, both brighter and more bitter than your standard Negroni, which is a 1:1:1 parts gin, vermouth and Campari.
Quick note from Amy: A Negroni is a bitter drink, and many bartenders use it to test a bar. If it’s good, they know they are in the hands of an expert. But they really aren’t that hard to make. But understanding the key ingredients, vermouth and Campari, is helpful.
Vermouth is a fortified wine, meaning wine that is fortified with a spirit, often brandy, and herbs and spices. Red, or sweet, vermouth is often used in Manhattans; while white, or dry, vermouth is used in martinis. But they have a lot more uses, like this neighbor Negroni! This is a good primer. But maybe one day we’ll go to vermouth school in Cocktail Hour.
And Campari is a bitter Italian liqueur that is often used as an aperitif and in the popular spritz. If you are familiar with an Aperol Spritz, you understand Campari. Aperol is just another type of bitter Italian liqueur. But while Aperol and Campari are both aperitifs, they have different flavor profiles.
This is an easy drink to make, and it’s great for spring, as our taste buds turn away from heavy brown liquor and toward our clear, light friends. This version, however, takes some prep work, so maybe spend the weekend infusing the gin and Campari. Future Springtime You will thank Dregs of Winter Prepper You.
(Also, I just realized my “quick note” is practically longer than the whole story. Is anyone surprised?)
But I leave you with this final note from Shana: “Be a good neighbor and leave some on a porch. Or, drink to deal with whatever terrible thing your not-good neighbor has freshly done.”
Neighbor Negroni
1 oz cacao-infused gin
1 oz strawberry-infused Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
Directions: Add all ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir gently for about 20-30 seconds. You want the hard edges off the ice and the glass to be cold. This both adds aeration and slight dilution, which you want! Then strain into a glass either up (no ice) or on the rocks (with ice).
If you choose on the rocks, your best option is one large cocktail cube, rather than basic freezer ice. Why? It won’t melt and dilute your drink as quickly.
Cacao-infused Gin
1/2 cup of cacao nibs
750 ml gin (I used Plymouth Gin)
Directions: In a pan, add the cacao nibs and roast over medium heat until fragrant, stirring occasionally. Combine with 750 ml of gin in a sealable container and set for 24 hours. Strain out cacao nibs and re-bottle.
Strawberry-infused Campari
1 cup cut strawberries
750 ml Campari
Directions: Combine 1 cup of strawberries cut into small pieces and 750 ml of Campari in a sealable container and set for 24 hours. Strain out strawberries and re-bottle. Refrigerate afterwards.
What I’m Reading: 14 Books to Read in March
On Tuesday, I published our monthly Bar\Heart Book List, featuring the 14 titles I’m most anticipating for March. It’s a good mix of fiction and nonfiction, and takes us from a novel set amongst the tippy-top 1% in Brooklyn Heights to Pulitzer Prize-winner Matthew Desmond’s new polemic on poverty. Plus, mermaids, aging country stars, two novels about what you find when you go home, and so much more.
I’m particularly excited for Bar\Heart reader Rose Hackman’s Emotional Labor: The Invisible Work Shaping Our Lives and How to Claim Our Power, and this memoir by Samin Nosrat’s all-around-brilliant bestie Laurel Braitman: What Looks Like Bravery.
You can find the full list here.
Must Have: Um, Yes, Please
Brilliance. No notes. (Also, that phone!) Gonna have to try it.
This Week’s Feels: Honest Haikus for Women
This week is clearly the Shana show. This appeared in my inbox this morning with the subject line: “every single one is a winner.”
She is not wrong.
Here’s a sample, but read them all in McSweeney’s.
I Think You’re Overreacting
Seriously, Brad?
You’re underreacting
Maybe you suck ass.
Sh*t I Now Know and So Must You: Get That Baywatch Hair
Pam Anderson’s messy updo? Yeah, she accomplishes that with a pair of panties. You’re welcome.
3 Things I’m Reading on the Interwebz
“This Ohio Island Has a Problem: It Has No Ice” by Campbell Robertson in the New York Times
When the cold sets in and the ferries stop running, the few hundred people who live here year round watch intently for signs that the blue all around them is turning white. This, they insist, is the real high season: ice fishing time.
But while the fishermen showed up this year, the ice didn’t.
“A Big Useless Bathtub, or the Inland Sea” by Jesse Raber in Belt Magazine
The ocean has a certain meaning in classic American literature, one that many people understand, and the Great Lakes have another meaning, which I’m convinced that almost nobody understands.
“The Way It Was: Ulysses Grant’s Home in Detroit” by George Bulanda in Hour Detroit
Grant’s own parents were ardent abolitionists whose position was so unyielding that they refused to attend their son’s wedding because his wife came from a family of slaveholders. But Grant, at least in his younger life, seemed more ambivalent. He later recognized the scourge of slavery and reformed.
Weekly Cute Critter:
The #bougiebull has been peering through the doors of my Cincinnati work space, as if to say, “Mom, it’s time to be done. Let’s go have some fun!” So that’s it for this week, y’all. See you Tuesday.