It’s the cantaloupe life raft garnish for me….

Up next on Charleston’s tour of #NegroniWeek with @campari_southcarolina is my buddy Megan Deschaine (@meganmakesdrinks) at @eatbarcopa with her take on a classic.

“A bright, tropical inspired Negroni featuring a briny, sea breeze like Martinique Agricole, playing with the bitter Campari and lightly sweet herbal notes of the infused vermouth. Best enjoyed with sunshine and friends”

Just a reminder that this week, I’ll be featuring five of Charleston’s finest bartenders to show us their take on a Negroni. The cool part about this if you’re local, they’ll actually be serving these up at their respective bars THIS WEEK ONLY, so make sure to go to @eatbarcopa to give this one a try and support the cause!

Brb… gotta clean some peppercorn off my lens…

Up next on Charleston's tour of #NegroniWeek with @campari_southcarolina is Fabiana Pinillos (@fabiliciousssss) over at Dalila's (@dalilas_on_spring)

"Dalila's would not be the bar it is without the Negroni - it is one of the first cocktails we think about and play off of when designing menu changes. This takes all those traditional components that we love and amplifies them in a floral, but non-pastiche way, toasting the pink peppercorn to bring out some richness and citrus notes, matching that with Italicus, a rose and bergamot liqueur that's light on its feet, and putting an underrated classic gin like Gordon's at the helm to steer the beverage in the right direction. A bit of seasoning ties it up all nicely - a pinch salt, an expression of lime oil, and just a dash of a rich simple syrup add body to make this Negroni delicious."

Just a reminder that this week, I'll be featuring five of Charleston's finest bartenders to show us their take on a Negroni. The cool part about this if you're local, they'll actually be serving these up at their respective bars THIS WEEK ONLY, so make sure to go to @dalilasonspring to give this one a try and support the cause!

EXTREMELY 👏🏽 FLAVORFUL 👏🏽

Up next on Charleston’s tour of #NegroniWeek with @campari_southcarolina is Stephen Blackmon (@stephenblackmon) over at Doar Bros. (@doarbros) - make sure to stop by and give this one a try in person!

“I was inspired by one of my favorite Indian restaurants, Chai Pani in Asheville, NC owned by Chef Meherwan Irani. The backstory of his great grandfather running one of the only Irani Cafes in his hometown along with what it must have been like hanging out there on a regular basis painted a vivid picture for what I wanted to share with others. The combination of culturally driven flavors and lively but chill vibes are what incited me to produce this very special cocktail riff.

I knew I wanted to have three things come out of this cocktail’s production: tea, spices, and savoriness in homage to Meherwan and his family’s heritage. By using the specific barrel-aged gin with big notes of Indian spices, infused for further complexity with malty Assam Tea along with traditional Masala Chai, I was able to ground the base idea around those bold flavors. I then chose to infuse a commonly found Italian aperitif white wine with spiced orange tea to play off both the infused gin and also tie it to both the Campari and Grand Mariner rather than use the typical sweet vermouth. I chose to do a “fat washing” process using traditional brown ghee along with coconut oil to round out the entire cocktail with a lingering silky and savory finish.”

Up next on Charleston's tour of #NegroniWeek with @campari_southcarolina is my buddy Jimmy Chmielewski (@jimmy_withthe_goodhair) at @thearcher with his take on a recipe thats a Negroni that drinks like a spritz, check it out below. "We really wanted to showcase some of the less conventional ingredients or techniques that we're utilizing at The Archer. The coconut and milk oolong tea really give the Campari a sort of bitter fruit loop flavor and a much more velvety mouthful. We also stand by the belief that most things are better carbonated and a negroni is no different. The force carbonation makes a boozy sipper feel like a light and fizzy Spritz. In terms of the thought process of the ingredients, toasted coconut screams tiki, so we really wanted to lean into that flavor profile (hence, banana and rum) without getting too far away from what a negroni truly tastes "

Give me a Negroni by candle light all dayyyy 🕯️🥃

It’s here! @negroniweek is starts tomorrow (9/16-9/22) and I’ve got something special planned for the week here in Charleston with some talented friends of mine and @campari_southcarolina. If you havent already, make sure to register at negroniweek.com and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks!

As if the Negroni Sbagliato couldn’t get more refreshing 🥒

Together with my friends over at @empress1908gin, we made a refreshing Negroni Sbagliato riff inspired by the ingredients in their Cucumber Lemon Gin. The brightness of the lemon and refreshing/vegetal aspects of the cucumber play perfectly well with the ‘Bianco’ version of this classic cocktail.

Is this going to make the Brazilians mad?

Well I figured I'd do a mashup of two Brazilian cocktails in a caipirinha and a limonada. The latter involves leaving the piths and skin on the lime and blending it together with cachaça and condensed milk. The pith lends a bit of pleasant bitterness to the cocktail which can be offset with a bit of salt. In this rendition, I made the limonada in the style of a caipirinha and I will say, this is absolutely delicious. Give it a try.

Cheers y'all.

My apologies to the entire country of Italy 🙈

Today we’re drinking our vegetables

Together with my friends over at @empress1908gin, we made a gin sour inspired by the ingredients in their Elderflower Rose Gin. Elderflower and cucumber have always been a match made in heaven but I really wanted to highlight the vegetal aspects of the black carrot in this offering as well. The addition of fresh carrot juice in this cocktail provided that sweet, vegetal note I was looking for. Hope y’all enjoy this one!

While we had some downtime at Sony Camera Camp, me and a couple other food creators just hung out at the pool bar and I figured I'd get behind the bar and make a drink. The dill stole the show here, they just happened to be growing some fresh in the herb garden at @konakai last month and figured I'd put it to good use along with some of the other in

It’s time to finally try the Wisconsin Old Fashioned 🥃

I don’t think I know of any other classic cocktail thats so heavily disputed by an entire region. I’ve been drinking old fashioned’s for a while now and always have preferred them… the old fashioned way (ps. This is how the drink got its name - spirit, bitters, sugar + water). Wisconsinites will always slide into the comments section asking where the muddled orange and cherries are, so today we’re going to try it out.

Have you revisited this lately, what are your thoughts?

Thanks to @highproofpreacher for the new HPP challenge coin 🥃

I’m convinced this is the martini of the summer 🍅🍸

This is long overdue, but I finally had to try the Tomato Martini (aka Tomato-Tini aka Tomato-tini) created by my friend @drinksbyevie. If you’re a fan of dirty (read: filthy) savory martinis then this one is for you. I added just a slight kiss of MSG to this one just to highlight a bit of the natural MSG in tomatoes and I thought it worked out beautifully.

Have you made this recipe yet?

The Charro Negro is the official #DrinkofSummer2024

Stir with a spoon. Dont @ me.

The daiquiri you didn’t know you wanted.

Happy #NationalDaiquiriDay - figured I’d kick off y’alls weekend with a solid sipper here. A classic daiq with the addition of Chartreuse and sea salt is the jam and you need to make it immediately.

Cheers y’all.

Don’t drink an espresso martini, drink this instead 🍊☕️🍫
We’re here in Palm Desert, CA with my friends at almaveto create a non-alcoholic riff on a Carajillo. This recipe utilizes their Ambar, which is their agave-based spiritless ‘blue agave spirit’. Similar to tequila, #Almave is made from the same blue agave but skips the fermentation process where the liquid becomes alcohol. In addition to the notes of chocolate and orange, Almave adds the rich agave flavors that pair perfectly with this cocktail. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cheers y’all.

Here’s your new favorite “Freezer Door” cocktail.

Just wanted a quick second to feature my dude Joey Goetz of lastsaintchs. He’s doing us a favor by showing us how to make a batch of SIX bottles of liquid gold - aka a chocolate + coconut-fat washed Negroni. My god, this was so good.

“Coconut and Chocolate visit a classic Negroni in an updated take on everyone’s favorite gin cocktail.

We build our standard house negroni, add Cacao Nibs and Coconut Oil to fat wash and infuse the entire cocktail. Freeze it and then strain everything off. It give you a classic negroni backbone but with wonderful notes of coconut and chocolate to compliment.”

Cheers y’all!

All the Jungle Bird vibes… in the Desert…

We're in Palm Desert, California. Everyone knows how much I love a Jungle Bird, but I wanted to create a version fit for the desert, which of course involves using #Tequila1940Blanco. This recipe combines two techniques, a stir and a shake. The latter to product a salted pineapple tiki foam that perfectly compliments the Rosita-like cocktail underneath. It's light, tropical and absolutely delicious for any occasion but just so fitting in this desert heat. Let me know what y'all think! Pro-tip: Fresh pineapple juice produces the frothiest results, if you're using canned pineapple juice, add agave nectar instead of orgeat to get a creamier foam. Cheers y'all!

Meet the Vieux Carré’s American Cousin, La Lousiane.

Here’s another stirred cocktail with roots in Louisiana. This recipe first appeared in 1937 and was the house cocktail at the historic New Orleans restaurant of the same name. It’s a rye-forward cousin to the Vieux Carré and still maintains the delicate balance despite the addition of rye and absinthe.

This is one you’ve got to try, cheers y’all.

Ever paired salted dark chocolate with an ańejo? 🤯

We’re here in Palm Desert and together with my friends at tresgeneracionestequila, I’ve created a take on a modern classic in the Oaxacan Old Fashioned by adding elements of dark chocolate
and sea salt. #TresGeneraciones Añejo stands well on its own but since we’re making an Old Fashioned here, I figured chocolate would pair well with the rich toasted oak notes in the ańejo as well. Adding just that pinch of salt also accentuates the flavors of chocolate + citrus and brings out more of the roasted agave with each sip. If you’re looking for an Old Fashioned recipe for the summer, this might just be your new go-to.

Cheers y’all.

This Venetian twist on a Bicicletta - The Vaporetto 🚤

It’s #spritzszn so today we’re making some with my friends at bonterra. Unlike a Bicicletta, this one will use a base of Bonterra’s Rosé, which uses 100% certified organic grapes that give this wine a dry, crisp but fruity palate with an acidic finish. The addition of Cappelletti enhances the grapefruit notes in this wine and is accentuated by the hint of Meyer lemon in the soda water.

It’s light, refreshing and very crushable.

Cheers y’all!