Homage To The Count
Next up for Negroni Week 2025, Ryan Wise channels the Count himself with a refined yet punchy tribute. Homage to the Count balances navy strength gin’s spice with Campari’s bitterness, rounded by Madeira’s caramel tones and a whisper of house-made allspice dram. It’s layered, aromatic, and deeply respectful of Negroni’s roots.
“Personally I love a Negroni, but I prefer mine a little punchier in the Gin department. So this Negroni variation starts with the Gin, we use a high ABV navy strength Gin, this offers balance between the smooth bitterness of Campari and the subtle sweet caramel and spice notes from the Madeira without losing the Gin. The Gin also has a nice background spice profile, like cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, ginger and of course juniper, so we leaned into that with just a touch our house made allspice dram that we make with a locally distilled rum, cinnamon, toasted cardamom and of course allspice berries. A couple drops of 20% saline solution to enhance flavor and add complexity and Voila - “HOMAGE TO THE COUNT”. The name of our cocktail is a nod to Count Camillo Negroni for whom the original Negroni was named after.”
Cheers, y’all!
ingredients:
1½ oz | 45 ml Navy Strength Gin
1 oz | 30 ml Campari
¾ oz | 22 ml Dry Madeira Wine
½ oz | 15 ml House-Made Allspice Dram
2 drops 20% Saline Solution
instructions:
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass (Yarai) with ice. Stir 20–30 times until chilled and properly diluted. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice sphere. Garnish with a dehydrated orange wheel, optionally studded with whole cloves.
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What if we made an apple pie with vanilla ice cream into a drink?
#ad21+ Today with my friends at @traegergrills, we’re going to find out what happens when you take a classic southern dessert and turn it into a tasty fall cocktail. It all starts with the smoked apple pie syrup. For this recipe, I used the Traeger Woodridge Elite since it has a built-in infrared side burner so I could make the syrup while smoking some juicy honeycrisp apples dusted with cinnamon sugar.
Of course we’re using apple wood pellets at 375 for about 45 minutes just to give them that kiss of smoke and concentrate their flavors a bit before adding it to our baking spices, brown sugar to make our syrup.
The topping is a non-negotiable, a salted maple, vanilla cold foam to really drive home that vanilla ice cream on top of an apple pie. That smokiness from the apple gives this recipe a one-of-a-kind, but familiar flavor profile and you’ll want to make over and over again. Just make sure to make enough of that syrup.
Cheers y’all!
#TraegerGrills #TraegerPartner