Gung Hay Fat Choy to you all! It’s Chinese New Year! Growing up in the SF Bay Area meant many a fun trip to Chinatown for New Year festivities and I totally loved the parades! My darling girlfriend is Chinese American and so this celebration has taken on a whole new meaning for me! I’ve noticed that no other culture wishes that everyone has Luck as much as the Chinese culture. So to you all I say, “May you be prosperous and full of luck!”

Trivia? Which drink goes perfectly with the rich and varied flavours of Chinese food cause it cuts right through the mix? NEGRONI! Bing, Bing, Bing! You did it! The citrus and bitter notes of a Negroni pair well with the heavy foods in a traditional Chinese New Year dinner and Red is the color of the celebration.

This is not just any Negroni though, this is An Improved Negroni. You may be thinking, “this bitch, why does she think she can ‘improve’ a Negroni?” But I’m not such a crazy bitch! “Improved Cocktails” are actually a category of drink. If you look back on the grand history of cocktails, the original ones were in an Old Fashioned format. The “improvements” meant adding things like a dash of Absinthe or two dashes of Maraschino.

My improvements are: adjusting the ratios, adding Maraschino and using Blood Orange peel in the drink for added Citrusness. Sun Ye Fai Lok!

An Improved Negroni

• 1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin
• 3/4 oz Campari
• 3/4 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
• 2 dashes Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
• Garnish: Blood Orange Peel

Combine ingredients and stir over ice until proper dilution has been achived. Strain into rocks glass with ice. Express Blood Orange Peel and Garnish.

An Improved Negroni in the wild at Chinese New Year 2014. I have switched vermouth since then y’all! 

Let’s just look at this drink again. Campari, you make me turn red all over. Remember #EveryWeekIsNegroniWeek