The Red Heering

Boxes and Booze

May 20

Red Heering aquavit Negroni cocktail — The Red Heering

I’m raising my glass to toast my new friend Doog, who is currently living life to the fullest in the French Alps, inside his cozy puzzle chalet workshop. To make this cocktail, you’ll need some smoked herring. But only to enjoy on the side, please don’t put that into the cocktail (unless you want it to be extra amazing). I’ve made a variation on one of my favorite drinks, the classic Negroni, which is traditionally made with gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari. Rather than gin, however, I embraced the theme, and used the Scandinavian version of gin - aquavit. Also known as aqvavit, the spirit is distilled from neutral grains or potatoes and traditionally flavored with caraway and dill, along with many other herbs, spices, citrus and botanicals. It is typically not aged in barrels, and thus appears lighter in color, just like most gin.

Of course, the Campari in a Negroni already affords it a bright red hue, which is a characteristic this drink needed to have. But in place of the sweet vermouth, we have another Scandinavian spirit, Cherry Heering, which serves double duty as another component to the regional theme of the drink while adding color. Unlike some cherry liqueurs, like maraschino, which are clear, Cherry Heering is a deep rich burgundy. To offset this sweet spirit, dry sherry is added, which helps balance the drink properly and imparts another lovely nutty undertone. The drink is delicious, but of course tastes nothing like the fruit punch it might appear to be – the garnish of Swedish Fish is just a red herring. Cheers!