veneto negroni

1 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1/2 oz Sfumato Rabarbaro
1/2 oz Aperol
1 oz Sweet Vermouth

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.After posting my Dark Entries on Instagram and receiving the comment by Haus Alpenz's Jake Parrott that the "50:50 rabarbaro and red bitter is a classic café drink in the Veneto – one of many drinks in Italy to get the moniker 'mezzo-mezzo'," I was inspired to tinker two Fridays ago. I decided to use that duo of Sfumato and Aperol in a classic Negroni, and I dubbed the result the Veneto Negroni (and not the Mezzo-Mezgroni). Once prepared, the Veneto Negroni proffered a grapefruit and roasty smoke aroma. Next, caramel, roast, and orange notes on the sip launched into gin, orange, herbal, and smoke flavors on the swallow.