Boulevardier
Ingredients
&w=3840&q=75){kind=small}
- 1 1/2 ounces bourbon
- 1 ounces Campari
- 1 ounces sweet vermouth
- 2 cups ice cubes – plus extra (for serving)
- orange peel – expressed and added (for garnish)
Instructions
1. Chill a coupe or rocks glass in the freezer for a few minutes.
2. Fill a mixing glass with the ice cubes.
3. Add the bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth to the mixing glass.
4. Stir until very cold and properly diluted, 20–30 seconds, until the outside of the mixing glass feels well-chilled.
5. Strain into the chilled coupe, or over fresh ice in the rocks glass.
6. Express the orange peel over the drink to release oils, rub it around the rim, then drop it in as a garnish. Serve immediately.
The Boulevardier is a spirit-forward, stirred cocktail that balances whiskey warmth with the bittersweet interplay of Campari and sweet vermouth. It’s silky, aromatic, and robust, offering a richer, rounder profile than its cousin the Negroni thanks to the grain spice and vanilla notes of American whiskey. Typically served up in a chilled coupe or over a large rock, it’s finished with a bright orange twist that lifts the drink’s nose.
Created in the 1920s, the drink is closely tied to Harry’s New York Bar in Paris and to Erskine Gwynne, an American expatriate and publisher of a magazine called “The Boulevardier.” The recipe appeared in Harry McElhone’s 1927 book, cementing its place in the early canon of transatlantic cocktails. Over time, the Boulevardier has become a bar standard, celebrated for its elegant, whiskey-forward take on the Italian bitter formula.