Build your Cocktail Box

In 1919, Count Camillo Negroni would frequent the aristocratic Caffè Casoni in Florence, Italy. One day he wanted something a little bit stronger than his usual Americano. So he asked the barman Fosco Scarselli to add a little bit of Gin to his drink, rather than soda, in memory of his recent trips to London.

This new cocktail became “The Usual” for the Count, but soon it became the “American Aperitif Count Negroni-style" for everyone else. In the 1950's the cocktail became very popular in Italy and, soon, all over the world. Ian Fleming mentioned the Negroni Cocktail in one of the 'James Bond' movies.

The Gin Sour is one of the oldest cocktails around and has become the blueprint for myriad modern cocktails. You could say it's where the art of mixing began - although nobody quite knows where, when, or how. We do know that revered mixologist Jerry Thomas was the first to write it down. Before that, Royal Navy sailors famously mixed sour drinks on board, adding citrus to their spirits and then sweetening the blend slightly. If they didn't invent the cocktail, they certainly popularized it when they came ashore. Now discover if the Gin Sour rocks your boat.

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. Inspired by the après-ski mood, Patrick creates this perfectly perfumed signature cocktail for the curious gin lover. The floral notes of violet in the Purple Breeze are as home on a snow-covered slope as a sun-soaked beach.