Rosita
ClassicPart Negroni, part Manhattan, all tequila.
Complex and grown-up. Aged tequila's gentle oak and cooked agave anchor a drink that's less overtly bitter than a Negroni and more layered — the two vermouths widen the herbal middle while Campari and Angostura keep an edge. Rich, dry, and slow-sipping.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Reposado Tequila
- 0.5 oz Campari
- 0.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- Lemon peel · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Add every ingredient to a mixing glass with ice.
- 2
Stir until well-chilled, about 20-30 seconds.
- 3
Strain over one large cube in a chilled rocks glass.
- 4
Express a lemon peel over the surface and drop it in.
The Story
The Rosita first appeared in print in the 1970s but was rescued from obscurity by the late bartender and writer Gary Regan, who included it in his 1991 "Bartender's Bible" and championed it for years afterward. It reads like a Negroni that spent time studying the Manhattan: reposado tequila carries the weight, Campari and two vermouths split the bittersweet middle, and a dash of Angostura ties it together. Regan called it a drink that deserved far more attention than it got.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
