Unless you’ve been living under a rock (i.e., not on TikTok or Instagram), you’ve probably heard about the “it” cocktail of the autumn: the Negroni Sbagliato.
The craze began with an interview between House of the Dragon stars Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy. Olivia asks Emma what their drink of choice is, and Emma replies that it’s the Negroni Sbagliato. This alone might have been enough to make folks want to order one, but the way Emma answered, pausing and letting Olivia react to each thing they said, sparked a viral TikTok sound.
It’s a bit hard to explain what a viral “sound” is on TikTok if you’ve never used the app. The best I can do are some examples that show what people are doing with the audio from the interview, like this one and this one. (Click here to see them all.)
As a result, everyone is suddenly talking about the Negroni Sbagliato. I think the cocktail world finds the whole thing a bit humorous and bewildering. The Sbagliato is absolutely delicious, and a classic, but I would not have put money on it becoming broadly popular. It is somewhat similar to the Aperol Spritz, a perennial favorite, but the use of Campari, which is more bitter than Aperol, makes it much more of an acquired taste. I suspect a lot of people ordering the Sbagliato because of the viral interview are not going to enjoy it. But I’m glad they’re trying it!
I wasn’t going to get in on the craze until I realized that I’ve never posted a Negroni Sbagliato here. And since I do want to cover all the classics, it seems like the perfect time to do so. If you already like the Negroni, then I think you’ll really enjoy this close cousin. If you don’t like Negronis but sort of want to, the Sbagliato makes a nice gateway drink to the real thing.
History: The Negroni Sbagliato was created in the 1980’s by a bartender named Mirko Stocchetti at Bar Basso in Milan. The story goes that he accidentally grabbed a bottle of sparkling wine instead of gin, and a new cocktail was born. The name roughly translated to “mistaken Negroni.” It’s actually a nice nod back to the Negroni’s origins, as the Negroni was an adaptation of the Americano, a similarly fizzy drink made with Campari, sweet vermouth, and club soda.
Negroni Sbagliato
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1-2 oz. prosecco
Build in a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with an orange twist (discarded) and an orange slice.
History from Difford’s Guide.