My Bar Bible / Cocktails / Negroni vs Americano

Negroni vs Americano

What is the difference between a Negroni and a Americano? Here are both recipes side by side, with exact measures, and what actually sets them apart.

The difference

• Both use Campari and sweet vermouth.
• Only the Negroni has gin.
• Only the Americano has soda water.
• The Negroni is stirred, the Americano is built.
• The Negroni is the stronger drink: about 22% against about 9.2% once diluted.

Negroni

Gin	30 ml
Campari	30 ml
Sweet vermouth	30 ml

Stirred · Rocks glass · about 22% · about 180 calories

An Americano with gin in place of soda, first poured for Count Camillo Negroni in Florence around 1919.

Negroni recipe

Americano

Campari	30 ml
Sweet vermouth	30 ml
Soda water	top up, about 60 ml

Built · Rocks glass · about 9.2% · about 120 calories

Gaspare Campari’s Milano-Torino, lengthened with soda and renamed for the American visitors who loved it. The ancestor of the Negroni.

Americano recipe