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Food

How to Make a Cocktail While Blindfolded

According to Orson Welles, Negroni cocktails are great because "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other," so make one ASAP to help jump start your weekend hangover and recovery at the same time.
Photo by Geoff Peters via Flickr

Searching for the historical origins of a classic cocktail like the Negroni is a bit like herding cats.

MAKE IT: Negroni Cocktail

Most will tell you that it was inspired by Italian Count Camillo Negroni in 1919, when he asked one bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to punch up his favorite cocktail, the Americano, with gin instead of soda water. Scarselli, with a knack for flair, threw in an orange rind to distinguish it from the Americano, which comes festooned with a lemon wedge. So thoughtful.

Fast forward 96 years. Whether or not this tale is absolute fiction, no one at the bar will care. It's also one of the easiest drinks you can't screw up: mix equal parts dry gin, vermouth, and Campari. Hell, try it blindfolded and see what happens.

According to Orson Welles, "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other." So make one ASAP to help jump-start your weekend hangover and recovery at the same time.