Imbibe Magazine is the ultimate guide to liquid culture. In every issue of the James Beard award-winning magazine and on imbibemagazine.com, you’ll find the world’s top drink destinations, recipes and in-depth stories—everything you need to know about the people, places and flavors of drinks. Imbibe also publishes cocktail books and produces drink-related events, including Negroni Week which took place in early June.
Negroni Week is a world-wide phenomenon celebrating one of the world’s great cocktails, the Negroni, while raising money for charitable causes. Starting with just 100 participating bars in 2013, last year’s Negroni Week welcomed the involvement of 7,770 venues in 60 countries to raise a phenomenal $1.5 million for charitable causes since the launch.
Here in Thailand it was Independent Wine & Spirit (Thailand) Company Limited sponsoring the big kick-off launch party which took place on June 4th at the Park Hyatt Bangkok’s Penthouse Bar + Grill.
Celebrities, high society and industry insiders all gathered for the extremely festive evening where Campari was the real star of the night. Campari, Italy’s iconic red apéritif, is the key defining ingredient in a Negroni as stated by the prestigious IBA Official Drink List.
It was around the year 1919 in Florence when Count Camillo Negroni contemplated ordering an Americano cocktail but decided it was time for a change. He requested it with a touch of gin instead of soda, inspired by his last trip to London and its prevalent gin scene. The bartender was pleased to honour Count Camillo Negroni’s request and added an orange garnish rather than the lemon wedge of the Americano to signify the new drink he had created. In Florence, the Count’s ‘usual’ became known as Count Negroni’s Americano, or the “Americano with a touch of gin”, but whatever it was referred to as back then, the Negroni was born. The Negroni is now one of the most famous contemporary classic cocktails. Anywhere you go in the world, you will find a mixologist who can make you the iconic Negroni. The original recipe, the perfectly balanced combination of equal parts of Campari, Red Vermouth and London Dry gin, is almost a century old and continues to be enjoyed today.
All proceed from the event were donated to the renowned Foundation for the Deaf under The Royal Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.