Hey there. Let's talk about a cocktail called the Negroni.
It's THE easiest cocktail to make: one part gin, one part sweet (red) vermouth, and one part Campari.
Which means it's easy enough to explain to any bartender who's not familiar.
It's perfectly balanced and tastes great: a little bit sweet, a little bit bitter, and a lot bit boozy.
And isn't it pretty?
But it's not a GIRLY drink or a MANLY drink.
Drunkards of distinction have been enjoying the Negroni for almost a century.
According to this New York Times article from 2002 (back when it was still "a relative stranger on these shores"), the Negroni was invented in Italy 1919 "when a wealthy Florentine named Count Camillo Negroni suggested to Fosco Scarselli, the bartender at the Hotel Baglioni in Florence, that he add gin to his Americano."