The Rhubarb Negroni. The taste of spring.

This sweet and sour cocktail feels like the perfect way to celebrate the extraordinary life of modernist architect Friedl Dicker, tragically cut short on October 9, 1944 at Auschwitz. Did you miss the post on Freidl Dicker? Check it our here.

Rhubarb is in season right now and this spring-y version of the Negroni uses a Rhubarb shrub in place of sweet vermouth for a little sweet and sour kick. A shrub is basically a fruit vinegar meant to be mixed with soda and drunk as a refreshing summer drink or it can also be used in cocktails. I used Bon Appetit's Rhubarb shrub recipe by Al Culliton. Shrubs are easy to make- just cut up about a cup or so of fruit, mix with an equal amount of sugar and let sit in a jar for a few days. Shake the jar or tilt it upside down a few times a day. After a couple of days add a cup of vinegar. Let that mixture sit for a few more days and then strain the fruit out of the liquid and pour into a jar or bottle. It should keep in your fridge for about six to eight weeks. And while you can make a shrub with any type of seasonal fruit, the flavor of the rhubarb is truly special- somewhere between cucumber and very sour green apple. It's also really good added to gin and tonic for another refreshing, summer sipper.

Recipe

I altered the classic Negroni recipe so that the Campari ( or whatever bitter you're using) doesn't overpower the Rhubarb shrub.

• 1-1/2 oz. Rhubarb shrub

• 1 oz. Gin

• 1/2 oz. Campari

  
  

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir to chill. Strain and pour into an old fashioned glass with ice or straight up into a coupe. Garnish with mint, lemon, or strawberry.