Equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth is a Negroni, the classic three-bottle cocktail those ingredients were built for. Pour 30ml (1oz) of each into a rocks glass with ice, stir until cold, and finish with an orange peel. That 1:1:1 ratio is the whole trick.
The Negroni. Fill a rocks glass with ice, add the gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, stir briefly to combine, then express an orange peel over the glass and drop it in. No shaking, no juice, no syrup, just three bottles and a stir. See the full Negroni recipe for specs and garnish notes.
Same three bottles, three ways. Keep the Campari and sweet vermouth and swap only the base spirit, and you get three more drinks built the exact same way. Trade the gin for bourbon and it's a Boulevardier, warmer and oakier. Use mezcal instead and it's a Mezcal Negroni, bitter with a smoky edge. Use overproof Jamaican rum and it's a Kingston Negroni, with the rum's funk standing in for the gin's juniper. Same 30ml/30ml/30ml build every time, same orange peel, just a different first bottle.
Adjusting the ratio. 1:1:1 is a starting point, not a rule. More gin pulls the drink away from the Campari and makes it less bitter; more Campari pushes it the other way. Some bars split the vermouth itself, half sweet and half dry, for what's sometimes called a 'perfect' Negroni, which trims some of the sweetness without touching the bitterness. Make a few at different ratios before deciding which one is yours.
Get the full Negroni recipe, or go deeper on the other two bottles at gin and liqueurs.
Good to know
Questions
Is a Negroni always equal parts?
The classic recipe is 1:1:1, gin, Campari and sweet vermouth in equal measure. Plenty of bars shift the ratio to taste, more gin or more vermouth makes it lighter, but equal parts is the place every variation starts from.
What vermouth works best?
Any sweet (rosso) vermouth works. Vermouth is fortified wine, not a spirit, so it fades once opened: keep it in the fridge and use it within a month or two for the best flavour.
Can I make it less bitter?
More gin softens it, and splitting the vermouth half sweet and half dry rounds it out without losing the bitterness entirely. The Mezcal Negroni and Kingston Negroni also read as less sharply bitter, even though the proportions don't change.