The fun with #LDCTakeover is almost over, but there was no way I could finish off this week without my favourite cocktail. With that, I decided to combine two influential thoughts to create this Mango Infused Negroni Swizzle.
First and foremost, I just want to give a big thank you to the team at Liquor.com for letting me show a little bit of my personality on the gram. Believe me, there are some EXTREMELY talented drinkstagrammers on the platform, which deserve the spotlight probably more than myself! But anyway, I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing my love and passion through Liquid Culture.
Now I have to say, this cocktail was a TOUGH ONE for me to chose! If you know me, than you definitely know that my heart beats for Tequila and Negronis. But then through this whole process with Liquid Culture, I’ve learned to appreciate Ice and its VERY important role in a cocktails. So the only way to make me happy was to combine the two into one delicious imbibe.
Ice is an under-appreciated ingredient in a cocktail. I can CONFIDENTLY predict a professional, simply by watching how the bartender handles ice and its quality. Upon my journey of appreciating ice, I quickly fell in love with swizzles. I wouldn’t say there’s a very definitive rule to swizzles. It can involve any spirit, and you don’t technically need a swizzle stick, but just think of swizzles as cocktails that tend to be spirit heavy, shaken or swizzled with crushed ice, with the occasional citrus. It also pertains to a technique where you have a bambo stick with an open edge to help dilute and distribute your cocktail evenly in its glass. I’m obsessed with them, and you’ll see them in many unique forms throughout my site.
Then there’s the Negroni. Nobody LOVES Campari when they first start drinking, unless you’re maybe Italian. It’s typically aggressive for most palates, and I’ll be frank that I didn’t understand the obsession behind this classic cocktail. Like all things though, once you learn to appreciate it’s place in the world, everything starts to make sense. That’s right, I got that poetic over the Negroni. Now I can’t remember WHEN the lightbulb came into my head and I fell in love with this classic, but it’s been a love affair for so long that it doesn’t matter. It’s the one cocktail that I’ll pretty much always order to start off the night. Want to get to know me? Let’s chat over a Negroni.
Since I decided to create a swizzle, I really broke down the constructs of this cocktail. I thought it would be best to create this ultimate Negroni with my favourite summer flavours. So I infused some Mango in CACHACA! Again, if you’re new to me and Liquid Culture, you’ll know that I am part Brazilian which means Cachaca is in my blood. I decided to celebrate that heritage in this final cocktail. Then I had it whipped up with Cocchi Americano to substitute the Vermouth. I know that’s a drastic change, but I wanted to keep this cocktail light, even though it was spirit forward. The final component was none other than Campari, because where would our lives be without Campari?
That, my friends, is it. I hope you loved this journey with Liquor.com as much as I did. But before I go, I’m sure you’re hopeful for this cocktail recipe. Well look no further!
Don’t Go Swizzle My Heart
Combining my love of Negroni's and Swizzles all into one Summer filled glass. Made with Mango-infused Cachaca, Campari and Cocci Americano.
– Difficulty: Intermediate
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Mango Infused Cachaca
- 1 oz Cocchi Americano
- ¾ oz Campari
- 2 dashes Mole Bitters
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your glass and top halfway with crushed/cracked ice. Swizzle until the cocktail has slightly diluted and continue to add crushed ice. Swizzle until the cocktail reaches the top. Garnish with a Mango slice.
Recipe Notes
For the Mango Infused Cachaca, simply place 1 cup of Cachaca in a mason jar with 1 cup of Mango sliced (approximately 1 mango). Let that sit for 24 hours in a cool, dark area, and strain. You may want to strain through a coffee filter or cheese cloth so the fibres don’t go through. This could keep for at least 6 months…if it lasts that long!
