Seattle Negroni Review

An amateur's guide to the people's Negroni

Recent Reviews

Oddfellows - Capitol Hill

NIPPS

  • Nose — Great fragrance with citrus notes. You can smell gin and Campari on first pass. - 1
  • Ice — Commerical ice stirred into cocktail, watering the flavor down. - 0
  • Presentation — Fresh peel garnish, twisted. You can feel it on your face. Glass not too ornate, but stable. - .5
  • Palate — Good balance post stir. Slightly watered down from the ice, but you can taste each ingredient. - 1
  • Sip — Before stir, ingredients not fully blended. Ice melt on top likely to blame. Full bodied toward the back of the first sip. - .5

Review

They make a balanced negroni with a fresh garnish, but it's clear the bartender was in a rush to get it out. I recommend bitters to slow the process down and give it a kick, if you enjoy the flavor. Worth the price, but ask that they mix the drink separate from the serving glass.

Old 5th Ave Tavern - Maple Leaf

NIPPS

  • Nose — Fresh orange rind, sweet forward scent from too much vermouth. Gin and Campari scent muted. - .5
  • Ice — Well ice stirred into serving glass, watering the cocktail down. - 0
  • Presentation — Standard lowball glass. Heavy condensation on glass. Served with straw. Fresh peel garnish. - .5
  • Palate — Well mixed but sweet heavy. Couldn’t taste gin and Campari flavor was muted. - .5
  • Sip — First sip in line with overall taste - sweet forward, slight bitter taste of Campari on the back end. Had to mix in myself to taste a balance. Needed to add bitters to counteract the vourmouth. - .5

Review

Not this place's strong suit. For a dive bar at a reasonable price, it's not half bad. I'd get bitters to counteract vourmouth heavy pours, which is standard for low-maintenance places that favor the less expensive ingredients. Bring cash, they don't take credit.

Watershed Pub & Kitchen - Maple Leaf

NIPPS

  • Nose — Perfect balance on scent. Sweet forward with better notes on end. Couldn’t smell orange rind. - .5
  • Ice — Cube ice, zero melt, mixed before pour into serving glass. - 1
  • Presentation — Easy to drink lowball, no condensation. Rind might was too thin and broke up in the cocktail. Still looked good though, so it get's full points. - 1
  • Palate — Persistent well mixed taste from first sip onward. Could taste every element in balance. Silky palate. Perfect without bitters, but added bitters maintained flavor. - 1
  • Sip — Perfect first sip. Silky texture that wasn’t too viscous. Taste maintained for the rest of the drink, even through the melt. - 1

Review

Do yourself a favor if you're in the neighborhood and stop by this place for a Negroni. The restaurant might feel like you've been transported to the suburbs, but they know how to make a good cocktail. Well balanced, served with care, silky, and minimal melt from the ice block. I upped the gin to Bombay Sapphire, as the price hike was negligible, though I have a feeling the taste wouldn't suffer much from a well pour.

Public House - Downtown

NIPPS

  • Nose — Little to no fragrance. Couldn’t smell rind or any of the other ingredients. Just water. - 0
  • Ice — Well ice with significant melt, noticeably watering down the cocktail.
  • Presentation — Served in a plastic cup wet with condensation. The timing and circumstances may not have given the presentation a fair shot, but it still felt rushed. The orange rind was stale and not given a full twist. - .5
  • Palate — Vermouth forward, favoring the cheapest ingredient. The gin was undetectable and the Campari was muted by the sweetness and significant dilution. - .5
  • Sip — Nothing significant on the first sip. The cocktail arrived watered down and lacked a strong, well-mixed opening taste. Had to mix to taste much of anything. - 0

Review

Tasted like chilled acid reflux. Poorly mixed, bad presentation, and out of balance. To be fair, this was during the World Cup, so this seems harsh. I’ll bet on a better day when it’s an actual sit-down, it’s a much better cocktail. I’ll revise this when I’m back in the neighborhood.

Shoutout to Sam for witnessing my ‘what the fuck is this?’ face.

Bait Shop - Capital Hill

NIPPS

  • Nose — Sweet-forward aroma with a strong scent from the orange peel. Slight gin on the nose, but no detectable Campari. - .5
  • Ice — Served with block ice, but it had already melted down considerably. The cocktail was slightly watery, with condensation forming on the glass. - .5
  • Presentation — Served in a decent lowball glass with a great orange peel garnish. Slight condensation, but the cocktail still presented well overall. - 1
  • Palate — The balance improved after stirring, but the cocktail remained too sweet. The gin came through slightly, while the Campari was difficult to taste. - .5
  • Sip — Not mixed well at service, with a watery layer sitting on top. Stirring did wonders for the taste and brought out the orange, but the first sip suffered. - .5

Review

Too sweet and gin heavy. Campari was on vacation. Overall, it fits the vibe of the place. A little scrappy, lots of color, and a little off-kiltered. The server thought I said ‘hiccups’ when I asked for a shot of bitters. He brought the shot and a lemon to suck on, which is apparently a cure for hiccups.

Shoutout to James and Gracy for the assist on the eval and good company. Also, for participating in the bitters and lemon hiccup remedy.

The Roanoke — North Capital Hill

NIPPS

  • Nose — Gin-forward aroma with no detectable Campari. The fresh orange garnish had a great scent. Strong gin smell with a small whiff of sweetness from the couple drops of vermouth in there. - .5
  • Ice — The cocktail was mixed separately from the serving glass, but the same ice used to mix the drink was transferred with it. Well ice but no condensation on the glass. - .5
  • Presentation — Served in a pretty lowball glass with a fresh orange peel and no condensation. Garnish looked fresh. - 1
  • Palate — Extremely gin forward, with little sweetness and no recognizable Campari flavor. It tasted more like a shot of gin with bitters than a balanced Negroni. - 0
  • Sip — The first sip had a watery layer on top from the mixing ice being transferred into the serving glass. What followed was sucking juniper ass until I gave it the stir. - 0

Review

Bummed about this one. While the presentation was nice, the cocktail was out of balance, zero vermouth to speak of, and was too light on the Campari. Found out after the review that the barkeep ran out of vermouth on the pour and didn’t restock to finish, which explained a lot. They let me have a shot of the top shelf vermouth, which made this much better. Hope to revisit and rectify this experience.

Shoutout to Taco Wednesdays at the Roanoke and to Jacquelyn for defending the Roanoke’s honor on this review - I’m gonna make it back to give it another go.

Big Marios - Queen Anne

NIPPS

  • Nose — Could smell the vourmouth, though the other flavors were present. Could smell the orange, as it was a wedge, so it lacked the aromatic bitterness of the rind. - .5
  • Ice — Well ice, but stirred separate from serving glass. Minimal melt at first, but the well ice watered things down within 15 minutes. A sign that the ice was close to melting point when put into the glass. - .5
  • Presentation — Pint glass, minimal condensation until the well ice melted. Orange wedge, not peel, and had to squeeze in the citrus myself. - .5
  • Palate — Sweet forward, but back of each sip held the mixture. Not too viscous and, until the ice melt, held a decent overall flavor. I recommend a bitters pour to counteract the sweetness. - .5
  • Sip — Best experience with the cocktail until the melt. Before adding bitters, sweetness muted the other elements. Had to remix occasionally with a straw. - .5

Review

If you're grabbing some pizza at this Seattle staple, come in with low expectations and you might enjoy their Negroni offerings. Ask for added bitters to counteract the strong sweet vermouth pour. Drink it fast to beat the fast ice melt. Recommend this drink pairing with the Coppa Cabana or The Spicoli.