Meaning “little rose” in Spanish, the Rosita is a founded in the template of a Negroni made with tequila. In fact, the original recipe in the 1970s called for equal parts tequila and Campari, giving it a distinctly Negroni like character. Despite this, the Negroni wasn’t particularly popular, and disappeared for years. When it finally resurfaced, the overall character remained the same, but the drink got a decidedly stronger tequila focus. The result is a drink that channels a Negroni’s spirit, but give Tequila the space it needs to strut its stuff.
Rosita
The Rosita combines a gentle smokiness and caramel with a bright, herbal bittersweetness. The play of the vermouth with the Campari gives it a distinctly Negroni like flavor, and fans of the bitter will find a lot to love here. The flavor of the reposado really gives an extra depth here, providing dimensions of roasted agave, caramel, and oakiness. The finish continues some of smokiness with a citrusy character.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
The Rosita highlights the sweet, roasted, gentle aging of tequila against the bright and bitter runs of tequila. The result is a drink that depends on the spirit as a backbone, but leaves room to explore itself through variation of the bitter and vermouth.
- Tequila – For this recipe the lightly aged reposado is going to offer the best impact for the price. The subtle notes of oak and spice compliment the bitterness, vinous notes, and touches of herbs. The result is something that the oak influence adds a much need complexity that blanco wouldn’t provide. We used Olmeca Altos Reposado and found it worked quite well here.
- Campari – While there are no direct substitutes for Campari, you can play around with another amaro – such as Aperol.
- Dry Vermouth – We used our standard Dolin Dry Vermouth here, but feel free to use what you have on hand or what you enjoy most. The dry and sweet vermouths will play background here, which is important, but won’t be critical.
- Sweet Vermouth – Normally we recommend the strong vanilla and spice complexity of Carpano Antica, but in this case, we suggest consider something lighter, like Cocchi di Torino or Martini & Rossi. You can certainly use Carpano, but be prepared for the vanilla to be more prevalent.
- Angostura – These are the classic bitters and behave perfectly here adding clove and cinnamon plus a bit of bittering agent. Adjusting this will chance some fundamental binding elements and flavor notes. We recommend you start with Angostura, and consider adjusting if you like the start point.