An exciting twist on the Negroni is the Olive Negroni, or the White Olive Negroni. After customers raved about it last year, I’ve been wanting to try out a recipe for a while. Today was the day. The beauty of the Negroni is its simplicity – three ingredients in equal parts. The classic recipe calls for 3 cl each of gin, Campari, and red vermouth, garnished with an orange slice. A pro tip: a splash of freshly squeezed orange juice works wonders in a classic Negroni.

But I wanted to mix things up and create a White Negroni using our La Mallorquina olive gin, without the red vermouth and the red bitter liqueur. I decided to replace the vermouth with sherry, but wasn’t sure whether Fino or Oloroso would work better. We tried both and I’ll keep it short: Fino works better for two reasons. Firstly, it’s much lighter than Oloroso, and secondly, it’s more subtle, giving the delicate olive aroma more space and even enhancing it a bit.

Finding a replacement for the red bitter liqueur was more challenging, but I’m even more satisfied with our solution. We made our own bitter liqueur from olive distillate (you can use 40% vodka as a substitute), gentian root (available online), sugar, and a good olive brine. As always, I mixed everything by feel, so there’s no exact recipe for this. Just go with your taste: if you like it more bitter, let the gentian steep longer in the alcohol, and do the same with the sugar and olive brine – just follow your gut. The olive brine brings a wonderful saltiness and some umami flavor to the mix.

In the bar, a Negroni is usually stirred with ice, but I find that it can be poured directly over ice in a glass just as easily.