cocktail of the year 2026 🍸

Contessa

Is that time of year when it is time to decide the cocktail of the year. Last year - of course - San Remo was the cocktail of the year. This summery thing suitable for the sun. However the times are not getting better so this year we need something heavier. I’ve been into negroni a bit lately but I found it a bit too bitter from the campari. So what could be better then a negroni where the campari has been replaced by aperol? In comes the contessa. This sounds italian. The word means countess in italian. Nevertheless it was created in Boston quite recently by bartender John Gertsen. Here is a nice ted talk with him from 2010. And here a nice public radio kitchen post also from 2010 found in the archives. So what is a contessa? It is equal amounts of gin, dry vermouth and aperol. Kinda like a negroni or perhaps a cardinale. Perhaps the name is a wink to the cardinale? Browsing recipes on the internet there are a few that uses sweet vermouth instead of dry but the more authorative sources like 101mixology and Difford’s Guide uses dry. I tried both and they are good in different ways but the dry one is perhaps a bit better.

written by fredrik at 2026-05-23