Behind the Spec #5 - Caffe Cyroni

At first glance, Caffe Cyroni looks like an elegant straight-up Negroni: dark, compact and spirit-forward in a Nick & Nora, with the orange twist discarded rather than left in the glass. The name secretly explains it's origins with Caffe Cyroni being a coffee twist on the Cyroni, which is itself a Cynar twist on the Negroni.

Hey Palu's version keeps the familiar equal-parts structure while changing up the ingredients.

It combines 25ml Havana Club 7, 25ml Coffee Carpano Bitter and 25ml Cynar. The aged rum takes the place of gin, Cynar gives the drink its name, and coffee enters through the bar's house-infused bitter.

Together, the three ingredients make a compact 75ml spec. It is stirred, strained into a Nick & Nora without ice and finished with a discarded orange zest.

Let's dive into how the professionals make it. This is Caffe Cyroni.

The only house component is the Coffee Carpano Bitter, made with 100 g Coffee Beans and 1,000 ml Carpano Bitter:

The team at Hey Palu uses a sous vide to extract the flavour of coffee beans into the Carpano Bitter for three hours before allowing it to chill and then straining it through a coffee filter.

Once the infusion is ready, the drink comes together like the classic it descends from. Combine the ingredients in equal measures, stir and strain into the stemmed glass, then finish with the orange zest and discard it.

This spec is a perfect example of Hey Palu's combination of Italian aperitivo culture and modern classic cocktails. Follow it backwards and each step is clear: Caffe Cyroni adds coffee to the Cyroni, while the Cyroni takes the Negroni in a new direction.

For more from the team, Hey Palu's public Peche profile is here.

Cheers! 🍸