Build your Cocktail Box

Florence 1919, maybe 1920. As usual, Count Camillo is at the Caffè Casoni. Yet he is in the mood for something a little stronger than his customary Americano. Inspired by recent trips to London, he asks barman Fosco Scarzelli to replace the soda water with a dash of gin instead. And so the ‘American aperitif Count Negroni-style’ is born. One of the all-time classic aperitivos. And perhaps the ultimate aperitivo full stop.

The Gimlet goes back to The Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930. Raymond Chandler described it in his classic novel The Long Goodbye as half gin and half lime cordial. According to him “it beats martinis hollow.” As for the name, forget world-famous bartenders. Legend attributes it to Surgeon Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette of the Royal Navy. He added lime cordial to his sailors’ daily tot of gin to keep scurvy at bay on long ocean voyages. And the Gimlet has stood the test of time, a classic cocktail perfect for warm summer evenings, whether or not you are out at sea.

It’s winter. An Alpine chalet and an open fire. NIO Cocktails Head Mixologist Patrick Pistolesi is in the mood for a gin-based drink before dinner. Something a little different. Something unexpected. The answer is simple. With the permission of the bartender, Patrick goes ahead and creates a perfectly perfumed signature cocktail for the curious gin lover. The Gin Proved is equally at home on a snow-covered slope as it is on a sun-soaked beach.