These days, a Negroni is rarely just a Negroni. On paper, the three-ingredient, equal-parts formula could not be simpler. But out in the wild, the drink has shape-shifted more times than one can count—its simplicity an invitation for reinvention by a bartending community forever tinkering with the classics. But, apparently, it’s no longer enough to simply swap the base spirit or skew more spirit-forward. 

I’ve been along for the ride as the drink has tried on rum, mezcal and sherry in lieu of gin; I welcome fluffy takes on the classic and I personally can’t stop drinking the blanched version that has itself become a modern classic. (I prefer it with mezcal and an extra-bitter gentian liqueur.) But now, something more alarming is taking place. Cocktail bars from coast to coast—from Happy Medium in San Diego to Temple Bar in New York—are taking the gin-bitter-vermouth formula we’ve come to know and love and are inexplicably turning the ruby-hued classic... blue. But why? When I asked Sam Ross, co-owner of Temple Bar, his answer was simple: “Why not?” 

While I can’t say I’ll be rushing to add a blue Negroni to my regular rotation (the formula for Temple Bar’s Blue Kampari™ is top-secret, anyway), here’s what I will be making this week.

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