Negroni gone wrong is my SIP version of regular Negroni. This drink uses whiskey, sake, and Campari as that is what I had on hand. Adding smoke to the drink gave a nice herbal smokey flavor to it.

I wanted to try adding smoke to the drinks at home but didn’t want to buy expensive smoker or ton of wood chips before I knew if I liked it. I used rosemary to create smoke for this drink. It turned out amazing giving the drink an earthy herbal flavor.

Both the versions of this drink tasted equally amazing. I am surely making this for my summer gatherings… Cheers!!!

Yeilds: 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces Whiskey (used Redbreast Irish whiskey)
• 1 ounce Campari
• 1 ounce Sake
• Orange peel or lemon peel
• Ice
• Sprigs of Rosemary

How To:

• Combine whiskey, Campari, and sake into a chilled glass filled with ice. Stir for about 30 seconds to a minute. Garnish with a twisted orange peel and serve.

Smoked version:

• Take a wide bottle with a small mouth. Take a few stalks of rosemary, burn them, and hold them into the upside-down bottle until it fills up the bottle with smoke.

• Combine your cocktail in a glass filled with ice & stir it for about 30 seconds. Pour this prepared cocktail into the bottle of smoke without the ice. Gently swirl it around for about 30 to 40 seconds.
• Pour this smoky drink into a chilled glass filled with ice. Twist an orange peel to release its juices and add it to the drink and serve.

Serving suggestion:

• Serve the drink in a chilled glass filled halfway with ice.
• Top the drink with fresh orange or lemon peel. Gently squeeze the peel to release the juices before adding it to the drink.
• You can top it with a sprig of rosemary as well.

Note:

• This recipe calls for stirring. I would not recommend using shaker.
• Rosemary smoke: Make sure there are no combustible materials around you like paper, kitchen napkins when you are making smoke. Take a big bunch of rosemary as that will give you more smoke. You will have to repeat burning them a few times to collect enough smoke. I did it about 3 times using 4-stalks at once. Make sure you do not leave the bottle open when you burn the rosemary again to get smoke. I usually keep it upside down on a foil or a clean countertop.  I found this video useful.
• Strain the drink if there are particles of rosemary in the drink.
• You can use other wood as well to smoke like hickory or oak wood.
• Citrous Peel– Squeeze or twist the peel before you add it to the drink, this will release the juices, which adds refreshing citrus flavor to the drink.