Published: Dec 12, 2010 · Modified: Nov 24, 2023

Negroni Sbagliato- An Italian Christmas Cocktail

A Negroni Sbagliato is a classic Italian cocktail made with Prosecco! It's festive for the holidays, but you can enjoy this Italian drink any time of the year.

Feeling the holiday pressure? Feel like you are running out of time? Head is spinning with unfinished lists. Are you asking yourself why a Pet Shop toy costs $39.99? I propose you have a cocktail! A tasty Italian cocktail.

What is the difference between a negroni and a negroni sbagliato?

The Negroni Sbagliato is basically a Negroni that calls for prosecco or asti spumante instead of gin. Sbagliato in Italian means "wrong" or "mistaken," as in, "I goofed on this negroni and grabbed the wrong bottle! And it tastes GOOD!”

You may be shaking your head saying, "What the heck is a Negroni?!?" Hold your horses...I will tell you!

What is an Italian negroni?

I’m sort of a history buff. I love American history. European history. Food history. And I just found out I even like cocktail history. Here is what I found on wikipedia about a regular Negroni:

“While the drinks' origins are obscured by time, the most widely reported version is that it was invented in Florence, Italy in 1919, at Caffè Casoni, now called Caffè Giacosa. Count Camillo Negroni invented it by asking the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the Americano, by adding gin rather than the normal soda water. The bartender also added an orange garnish rather than the typical lemon garnish of the Americano to signify that it was a different drink.

After the success of the cocktail, the Negroni Family founded Negroni Distillerie in Treviso, Italy, and produced a ready-made version of the drink, sold as Antico Negroni 1919.

One of the earliest reports of the drink came from Orson Welles in correspondence with the Coshocton Tribune while working in Rome on Cagliostro in 1947, where he described a new drink called the Negroni, "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other."

I don’t know about you, but this fascinates me! My favorite part is the end quote about how the bitters and gin balance out each other.

Where was the negroni sbagliato invented?

Back to the Negroni Sbagliato. It was invented at the legendary Bar Basso in Milan. Milan has a pretty hopping aperitivo scene. You go out after work to a bar. Any bar. And you buy a cocktail and you get to snack. I’m not talking just popcorn and chips.

Some of these bars have bruschetta. Amazing olives. Cheese spreads. I could go on and on. It basically is a happy hour where you get a drink and practically a free meal. Not bad?

I found the story about this drink in La Cucina Italiana magazine: “The house specialty at the legendary Bar Basso in Milan translates as “wrong” or “mistaken” Negroni—a fitting name for a cocktail born from a happy mistake. When making a Negroni, a misplaced bottle of spumante was grabbed by accident. An instant hit, the drink became the bar’s signature.”

What does a negroni sbagliato taste like?

A negroni sbagliato tastes bitter and fruity (and nice and bubbly!).

I am happy that this drink was created by mistake. So if you are feeling the stress. Time is getting closer. Sit back and make a Negroni Sbagliato.

How to serve a negroni sbagliato?

Like a regular negroni, the sbaliato version is served on ice and usually comes with an orange peel twist.

Cheers for a peaceful rest of the month of December!

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