Festive Negroni Recipes to Try This Christmas

As I said in my list of Negroni Variations, “I’m a purist. A Negroni is simple. Three equal parts. Simple.”

But as I also said on my list of Festive Cocktails, “Christmas is not the time for restraint. It is the time when the rules you’ve followed faithfully all year are quietly placed on a shelf and ignored until January.”

So consider this a controlled lapse. Here are eight Negronis that really shouldn’t exist, probably shouldn’t work, and yet, in the right light, at the right hour, absolutely do. They keep the bones of the drink intact but dress it for Christmas.

All are mixed the same way. The Negroni way. Stirred, never shaken, in a mixing glass with ice, poured into a rocks glass and garnished with a twist (and a spray) of orange zest

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Ambré Spiced Negroni

Uses Noilly Prat Ambré Vermouth to give a more complex, slightly spiced taste with notes of cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla, further emphasised by using Sacred’s Christmas Pudding Gin

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Gingerbread Negroni

This adds half a measure of King’s Ginger and again uses Noilly Prat Ambré Vermouth as a compliment, both offering warmth, not sweetness.

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Christmas Negroni

This uses Tarquin’s Spirit of Christmas Gin which brings Tonka bean, candied clementine, and cinnamon, which are then complimented by using half Sweet Vermouth (9 di Dante for extra depth) and half Amaro Meletti which brings further spice and orange. 

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Coffee & Star Anise Negroni

Steep a shot of Campari with a couple of Star Anise for 15mins, then strain, mix with the Gin and Vermouth, then add half a shot of Bepe Tosolini Exprè Coffee Liqueur (Kahlua would work just as well) to give it a unique depth.

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Panettoni Negroni

Straight forward Negroni that uses Tarquin’s Panettoni Gin with subtle notes of Italy’s Christmas Cake infused within.

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Dukes Festive English Negroni

A tweak of Alessandro’s famous English Negroni from Dukes in Mayfair, all three components from Highgate’s Sacred Distillery. Add a dash of Angostura Bitters for extra festive-ness.

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Cranberry Negroni 

Yes. Really. Straight forward Negroni 1:1:1 proportions, but complimented by a fourth ‘third’, a measure of fresh cranberry juice. A dash of Fee Brother’s Cranberry Bitters adds a Santa’s boot sized extra punch. Still recognisably a Negroni, just a little ‘fruitier’.

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Pomander Negroni

Really simple. Taking an Orange Infused gin (not a fruit gin – I use City of London Distillery’s Murcian Orange Dry Gin), then swap the Vermouth for Sacred’s English Spiced Vermouth, then Campari as normal, plus a dash of Angostura Orange Bitters. Recognisable as a Negroni, with just a hint of a Pomander’s Spiced Orange.

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If the festive cocktails are about mood, fireside comfort, late dinners, the long, indulgent drift of Christmas, then these festive Negronis are about muscle memory. 

They’re what you reach for when sweetness has had its moment and you want something familiar again, something that knows exactly what it is. 

Think of them not as reinventions, but seasonal deviations: the same architecture, the same bitter spine, just nudged gently towards spice, citrus peel, coffee, or winter fruit. 

They’re Negronis wearing heavier clothes, designed for darker afternoons and longer nights.

Merry Christmas!

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