Jeremy Oertel, head bartender at Donna in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, recalls when Toby Maloney, another well known NYC bartender came into his bar one night and asked for a white Negroni. This was back at Mayahuel, a pioneering agave bar in the East Village which was opened in 2009 by Death & Company veterans Ravi DeRossi and Phil Ward (who invented the modern classic Oaxaca Old Fashioned). Mayahuel introduced the cult of agave to a generation of agriculturally interested consumers ready to learn about the origins of tequila and mezcal. Naturally, Oertel made Maloney a Negroni with tequila.

It was also around the time that gentian liqueurs were newly available in the US market. Oertel recalls this may have led him to use Salers, a French bitter aperitif, in place of the typical amaro in the Negroni. Salers is distinguished as the oldest French gentian liqueur in production, since 1885, distilled from the wild flowering plant roots of gentiane lutia which grows in the mountain region of Puy Marie. Salers is a lovely, bittersweet liqueur which complements the tequila perfectly in this cocktail. Lillet, another French aperitif with a sweeter profile, is simply delicious, and is probably why this exquisite white Negroni takes you to Cloud 9. Cheers!

Cloud 9 by Jeremy Oertel

2 oz blanco tequila

¾ oz Lillet blanc

¾ oz Salers

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe. Lemon peel garnish.

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