Rosita
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 25.7% ABV ∙
The Rosita is a stirred, tequila-based riff on the Negroni, mixing tequila reposado with a red bitter, dry vermouth, and sweet vermouth. Tequila's earthy warmth meets a bittersweet bite up front, with a dry, herbal backbone and a citrus-oil lift from the grapefruit twist on the finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: Tequila reposado 45 mlRed bitter 15 mlDry vermouth 15 mlRosso vermouth 15 mlAngostura aromatic bitters 1 dash
- Strain into the ice-filled glass
- Express a grapefruit twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Pre-chill the glass before straining so the drink stays cold despite the short stir-and-strain build.
- Stir with plenty of ice for about 30 seconds to fully chill the tequila and soften the two vermouths together.
History
The Rosita's own trail is famously tangled. It surfaced in print in the 1974 edition of the Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide, with no inventor recorded, then reappeared in bartender Gary "Gaz" Regan's 1991 book The Bartender's Bible. Regan later wrote that he had drawn the recipe from an earlier Mr. Boston edition and tweaked it, adding more tequila and a dash of bitters, but for years he did not connect his own book's Rosita to the drink circulating under that name, crediting it instead to a fellow drinks writer who had shown it to him decades later. Only after retracing the trail did he realize he had unknowingly republished, and altered, a recipe he himself had once printed.
The Rosita is built on the Negroni, the Italian bittersweet cocktail most widely reported to have been mixed in Florence in 1919, when bartender Fosco Scarselli strengthened Count Camillo Negroni's usual Americano by swapping in gin. The Rosita reworks that formula by replacing the gin with tequila, giving the classic Negroni a Mexican-inflected, agave-forward turn.
FAQ
How does a Rosita differ from a Negroni?
A Rosita swaps the Negroni's gin for tequila reposado and splits the vermouth between dry and sweet instead of using sweet vermouth alone. The result drinks earthier and less juniper-forward than a Negroni, with the agave and a grapefruit twist replacing the orange peel typically used on a Negroni.
How do you make a Rosita cocktail?
Stir tequila reposado with a red bitter such as Campari, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, and an optional dash of Angostura bitters over ice, then strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Finish by expressing a grapefruit twist over the drink and dropping it in as garnish.
