Mix It: Bar Helix’s Brokedown Palace Negroni

To know Kendra Anderson, owner of the seven-week-old Bar Helix, is to know Negronis and sparkling wine. So it should come as no surprise that one of the RiNo spot’s best cocktails combines the two. The Brokedown Palace is a variation of the Negroni Sbagliato, which, according to Anderson, loosely translates to “mistaken” or “broken” in Italian. As she tells it, this variation was created when a bartender making a traditional Negroni accidentally poured Prosecco into the glass instead of gin. For Helix’s version Anderson swaps Italian vermouth and Prosecco with Spanish vermut and cava. The resulting cocktail is still strong, still bitter, and more festive than ever.

Pour a round of these before Thanksgiving dinner (the Negroni was originally designed as an aperitif) and get the party started off right. Then keep the recipe close at hand and make it throughout the holidays—and beyond.

Brokedown Palace Negroni
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce Casa Mariol Vermut Negre
1 ounce Casa de Valor Cava (or any sparkling wine)
1 small slice of candied orange zest, for garnish

Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add Campari and Vermut Negre, stir well to combine and chill. Strain into a coupe glass, add cava and stir again gently. Garnish with the candied orange zest.

3440 Larimer St., 720-449-8587

—Photo courtesy of Kendra Anderson