Bigfoot has been sighted in Washington, DC. He was hiding in a basement bar with a glass of vermouth. It’s The Bigfoot Negroni, folks.
The cocktail comes from Folklore, the latest menu at Silver Lyan, the subterranean cocktail bar inside the former Riggs National Bank. Created by general manager Alex Leidy, head bartender Sam Nellis and the wider Mr Lyan team, the menu explores the stories people share, repeat and occasionally mistake for verified zoology.
There are drinks inspired by Nessie, the Boogeyman and the supposed risk of eating spiders while asleep. But with Negroni season nearly upon us, we are heading into the forests of the Pacific Northwest in search of Sasquatch.
The Bigfoot Negroni
The law protecting Bigfoot
The inspiration begins in Skamania County, Washington, a densely forested area with a long association with reported Sasquatch sightings.
In 1969, county commissioners passed Ordinance No. 69-01, making the deliberate killing of a Sasquatch a criminal offence. The ordinance was amended in 1984, but harming Bigfoot can still theoretically result in a fine or imprisonment. Which kinda makes sense… Either Bigfoot exists and deserves our protection, or he does not and people should still refrain from firing rifles at unidentified hairy shapes in the woods.
For Silver Lyan, the story offered a route into the flavours of the Pacific Northwest. “I love the Bigfoot Negroni from our new menu inspired by folklore”, says Leidy. “It’s a bright and aromatic take on the classic inspired by Washington State’s Skamania County, where hunting Sasquatch has been illegal since the early 1970s”.
What does Bigfoot taste like?
Thankfully, that question has not been answered literally. Instead, Silver Lyan asked what the forests associated with the creature might taste like. The result is a Negroni built around fruit, pine, herbs, earth and gentle savoury notes. The drink combines The Botanist Islay Dry Gin with a forest-fruit vermouth, Campari, Aperol, and pine sherry. Its defining ingredient is a homemade Bigfoot Vermouth.
“For me, it’s a super fun exercise in playing with the flavors of the Pacific Northwest through our homemade Bigfoot Vermouth, which pulls 15 different botanicals associated with the pine forests that Bigfoot calls home into a rich and slightly savory aperitif wine,” Leidy explains. “This recipe is adapted to be a bit more friendly to a home bartender without an apothecary’s cabinet worth of ingredients – just make sure to start with fresh vermouth and get a safe pine needle tea!”
Yes, the bar was kind enough to supply a recipe for a home version that has been simplified. Here, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino is infused with freeze-dried raspberries, blackberries, pine needle tea and dried mushrooms. And please do take good note of that last point by Leidy. Use commercially produced, food-safe pine needle tea. Do not wander outside and start confidently stripping the nearest conifer. Some evergreen species are toxic, and botany can be an unforgiving hobby when practised through guesswork.
Breaking down the Bigfoot Negroni
The classic Negroni is famously democratic: equal measures of gin, sweet vermouth and Campari. Silver Lyan changes that balance. The Bigfoot Negroni contains 30ml gin, but its fortified wine component rises to 45ml through a combination of Bigfoot Vermouth and fino sherry. Campari is reduced and joined by Aperol, creating a softer, brighter form of bitterness.
Pine connects naturally with the juniper in the gin and dark berries belong comfortably in sweet vermouth, while mushrooms and fino sherry extends its savoury character. Splitting the bitter component between Aperol and Campari is particularly smart. Campari preserves the deeper bitterness expected from a Negroni, but a little approachable Aperol sweetness is no bad thing, especially with a dash of orange bitters to sharpen the citrus, and 5ml of simple syrup pulls the drink back into balance.
It is recognisably a Negroni, but brighter, less aggressively bitter and considerably more woodland based. The Bigfoot story gives the drink an entertaining entrance, but the recipe works because it has used the landscape surrounding the legend to rethink a familiar drink’s familiar structure.
How to make Bigfoot Vermouth
Bigfoot may remain elusive. His Negroni, fortunately, comes with exact measurements. This recipe produces enough vermouth for around 20 drinks, depending on how much liquid the fruit and mushrooms retain.
Ingredients
- 750ml Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
- 10g freeze-dried raspberries
- 10g freeze-dried blackberries
- 9g food-safe pine needle tea
- 25g dried mushrooms, ideally a mixture of porcini, black trumpet and chanterelle
Method
Add all the ingredients to a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover loosely with a microwave-safe plate or lid, making sure the container is not sealed.
Microwave for three minutes. Using oven gloves, carefully remove the bowl and leave the mixture to cool completely.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean, resealable container. Store in the refrigerator and use within one month.
Bigfoot Negroni recipe
Ingredients
- 30ml The Botanist Gin
- 30ml Bigfoot Vermouth
- 15ml fino sherry
- 15ml Aperol
- 7.5ml Campari
- 5ml simple syrup
- 1 dash orange bitters
Method
Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass or cocktail tin filled with ice. Stir until thoroughly chilled and suitably diluted.
Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
Garnish
A maraschino cherry.
