White NUgroni with Bergamot
Recipe, Food, Styling & Photo: Oliver Schwarzwald
Nogroni Week is over but Sober October is here
So it's October, #SoberOctober, aka #Soctober aka #OctSober. Lots of names for a campaign originally launched in Australia to protect children from alcohol and drug abuse. Meanwhile, around the world an occasion for many to cut back and perhaps take a breath before heading into the last mulled wine rounds of the year. The opposite of SoberOctober or Dry January, however, are marketing campaigns that promote a specific drink. Like Negroni Week in September, for example. Negroni 24/7? Doesn't sound very elegant. I like the idea of a parallel Nogroni Week. The fact that there is still work to be done here is impressively shown on Instagram. 182 thousand posts for #negroniweek are compared to only 10 for #nogroniweek. Will someone please check TikTok ?
Maybe the term nogroni is just unfortunate. It sounds a lot like abandonment. How about Newgroni or fancy #Nugroni instead, it already has a whole 6 posts on Insta after all. We are on.
As we know, a classic Negroni is equal parts Campari, vermouth and gin. It slams. It was my go-to for quick hits, the sure way towards heavily buzzed plus straight-up hangover.
Drink responsibly! Ah sure, if only I had stuck to this well-meaning, but totally pointless, marketing slogan of the alcohol industry, this certainly wouldn't have happened to me. But I couldn't, so who's surprised?
Drink resonsibly means for me meanwhile, alcohol-free. That´s how, the whole thing makes sense to me.
And the possibilities for mixing good alcohol-free drinks, with flavor profiles ranging from vermouth to bitter, are greater today than ever before. I find them to be an absolute game changer.
That's why today we have a light nugroni. Not only optical a fine alternative to the dark original. With some bergamot syrup it becomes more floral, but remains bitter-sweet like the classic.
The 0.0% Aplaus Piff Paff Gin, from Stuttgart, has great sage and mint notes that give the whole drink even more "herbal swag."
As an alternative to Campari, Palermo Gentiane enters the glass. The yellow gentian has a very distinct bitter note. It balances out the white vermouth alternative from It's Undone. The so called Vermouth No.8 from Hamburg, comes with fine sweetness and classic vermouth flavors to it. Very good!
Now a bergamot syrup rounds off the Nu-Groni perfectly. I am a big fan of the fresh aroma of this citrus fruit. It is also said to have a calming and balancing effect. Its origin is not clear. In any case, it is named after the Italian city of Bergamo, which brings us back to the home of the nuovo groni #Nugroni.
Salute sober buddies!
Recipe, Food, Styling & Photo: Oliver Schwarzwald
The drink:
2 cl Bergamot Syrup Bacanha
3 cl Piff Paff Gin
3 cl Unodne No.8
2 cl Palermo Gentiane
Pour all the ingredients into a tumbler glass filled with ice and stir thoroughly. Squeeze a piece of orange peel over it and lightly rub the rim of the glass with the peel. Garnish with an orange and a lemon zest.
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