Featured Libation: Vesca Negroni
With titular odes to the likes of Virginia Woolf and Emile Zola, the drinks menu at Fitz’s Bar (tucked away in The Principal London, Bloomsbury) is a real tour de force of literary nods and mixological showmanship. The menu not only offers up a series of solid house cocktails, but boasts a couple of creative riffs on longstanding classics. The Vesca Negroni is one such riff.
Thanks to a potent but floral blend of Fords gin, Luxardo Bitter Bianco and Dolin Blanc, the classic, crimson charm of the old-school Negroni is replaced with a crystal clear clarity that upholds the drink’s famously bold flavour.
But the guys and girls at Fitz’s don’t stop there: The second half of the drink’s charm (and namesake) is to be found frozen in the Vesca’s giant, globular ice ball. With hefty notes of woodland strawberry (or Fragaria vesca), rosehip and coconut locked into the ice itself, Vesca Negroni demands to be sipped and savoured over time. As the carved ice melts, these sweeter, fruitier notes shine through, offsetting the classic Negroni’s typical dryness to create something truly unique.
Overall, the Vesca strikes an expert balance between classic Negroni sensibilities and the fruity, silky sweet freshness of something new. By all accounts, the drink boasts exactly the kind of artistry and attention to detail we’ve come expect from The Principal London’s prestigious bar.
Words by Will Halbert
Image Credits by Jason Bailey