🌵 Mezcal Negroni

The Negroni's smokier, wilder cousin — campfire depth meets bitter sweetness.

3 minutes
Serves 1
Stirred
Mezcal cocktail
Ingredients
  • 1½ oz mezcal (joven or reposado — see tips)
  • 1 oz Campari
  • 1 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica or Punt e Mes)
  • Large ice cube — for serving
  • Orange peel — to garnish
Method
  1. 1
    Chill your glassPlace a rocks glass in the freezer for a few minutes. A Negroni should always be served cold.
  2. 2
    Combine and stirAdd mezcal, Campari, and sweet vermouth to a mixing glass with plenty of ice. Stir for 30–40 rotations — about 30 seconds. Unlike shaking, stirring chills and dilutes without adding air bubbles, keeping the drink clear and silky.
  3. 3
    StrainStrain into your chilled rocks glass over a large single ice cube. A large cube melts slower and dilutes less.
  4. 4
    Express the orange peelHold a piece of orange peel about 3 inches from the surface and squeeze it firmly over the drink, skin-side down. This releases the orange oils in a fine mist over the surface. Rub the peel around the rim, then drop it into the glass or rest it on the rim.

Joven vs Reposado Mezcal

Joven (unaged) mezcal has the purest expression of smoke and agave. It's lighter in body but more intensely smoky — great if you want the mezcal to be the dominant flavour in the Negroni.

Reposado mezcal is aged in oak for 2–12 months, which adds vanilla, caramel, and wood notes. These interact beautifully with the sweet vermouth and give the drink a rounder, more integrated feel. Try both — they produce genuinely different cocktails.

Variations

🍊 Mezcal Boulevardier

Replace the Campari with bourbon-friendly Aperol and use rye whiskey alongside the mezcal (half and half). A hybrid between a Boulevardier and a Mezcal Negroni.

🌿 Mezcal White Negroni

Use mezcal, Lillet Blanc, and Suze (a French gentian liqueur) instead of Campari and sweet vermouth. Lighter in colour, more floral and bitter.

🍋 Mezcal Negroni on the Rocks with Citrus

Build directly in the glass over ice (no mixing glass) and add a long strip of grapefruit peel instead of orange. The grapefruit oil amplifies the agave smoke.

🥃 Mezcal Old Pal

Equal parts mezcal, Campari, and dry vermouth. Drier, sharper, and more spirit-forward than the standard Mezcal Negroni.

Related
🍊 Classic Negroni The gin original 🌵 Oaxacan Old Fashioned Another great mezcal cocktail 🌵 Tequila & Mezcal Guide Which mezcal to choose 🔥 Smoked Old Fashioned More smoky spirit cocktails 🌮 Tequila & Mezcal Classics More agave spirit recipes