Manzoni
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 20% ABV ∙
The Manzoni shakes London dry gin, a red bitter such as Campari and Manzanilla sherry with apple cider and a touch of sugar syrup. Frothy and bracing, it opens bittersweet before a briny, nutty edge settles into a crisp, faintly fruity finish with real bite.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 30 mlRed bitter 25 mlManzanilla sherry 20 mlApple cider (unsweetened) 15 mlSugar syrup 10 mlSaline solution 1 dash
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a green grape on a skewer
Tips
- Shake hard and fine-strain — the fruit and sherry need the aeration a stir can't give, unlike a stirred Negroni.
- Add the saline solution as a single dash and taste before adding more; it's there to sharpen, not to salt the drink.
- Pre-chill the coupe before straining so the drink doesn't lose its chill on contact with a room-temperature glass.
History
No documented creator, bar, or year has surfaced for a cocktail called Manzoni; it appears to be a modern, undocumented riff on the Negroni built around Manzanilla sherry and apple rather than a drink with its own recorded creation story.
The Negroni itself is generally traced to Florence, where Count Camillo Negroni is said to have asked a bartender at Caffè Casoni to strengthen his usual Americano by replacing the soda water with gin, creating the drink around 1919. Modern research into cocktail books complicates that tidy account, showing the equal-parts gin, Campari, and vermouth formula and the Negroni name only converge in print in the late 1940s, so the drink's precise origin is treated as unsettled among historians. The Manzoni's defining difference is swapping out the Negroni's gin-forward, all-spirit base for a lighter build that folds in Manzanilla sherry and apple, softening the drink's alcoholic weight while keeping its bittersweet Campari core.
FAQ
What is the difference between an Enzoni and a Negroni?
A Negroni is equal parts gin, a red bitter such as Campari, and sweet vermouth, stirred and served over ice. An Enzoni-style build, like this Manzoni, is shaken instead of stirred and swaps the vermouth for dry Manzanilla sherry, apple cider, and a touch of sugar syrup, giving a lighter, brighter, slightly fruity drink rather than the Negroni's dense, spirit-forward sip.
