My Bar Bible / Cocktails / Negroni vs Boulevardier

Negroni vs Boulevardier

What is the difference between a Negroni and a Boulevardier? 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 Boulevardier has bourbon.
• The Negroni goes in a rocks glass, the Boulevardier in a coupe.
• The Boulevardier is the stronger drink: about 25% against about 22% 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

Boulevardier

Bourbon	45 ml
Campari	30 ml
Sweet vermouth	30 ml

Stirred · Coupe · about 25% · about 230 calories

Created in Paris in the 1920s for Erskine Gwynne, an American who published a magazine called Boulevardier. A Negroni with whiskey.

Boulevardier recipe