Nonalcoholic Negroni
Published September 30, 2025
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
- Total Time
- 2¼ hours
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 10 minutes, plus 2 hours’ cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 medium navel orange
10 hibiscus tea bags, such as Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole cloves
½ cup sugar
2 (12-ounce) cans tonic
1 cup unsweetened grapefruit juice
Ice, for serving
Orange wedges, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving
27 grams carbs; 109 calories; 1 gram fat; 1 gram fiber; 15 milligrams sodium; 1 gram protein; 24 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Use a vegetable peeler to peel the orange, avoiding as much white pith as possible. In a small saucepan, combine the orange peel with the tea bags, peppercorns, cloves and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Step 2
Add the sugar and cook, stirring, until dissolved, about 1 minute. Cover, remove from the heat and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Strain the tea and discard the solids. The cooled, brewed tea can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
- Step 3
To serve, in a large pitcher, stir together the tea, tonic water, grapefruit juice and about 1 cup ice. Divide among rocks glasses filled with ice and garnish with orange wedges.
To make one serving, fill a rocks glass with ice. Pour in 1 ounce of grapefruit juice, 2 ounces of the tea and 3 ounces of tonic water; stir to mix. Garnish with an orange wedge.
Private Notes
Comments
There is a non-alcoholic substitute for Campari. It is Sanbitter, made in Italy. It can be purchased in the US and is nearly indistinguishable from Campari. Highly recommend it. Just pop open the bottle and use. They also have an Aperol substitute.
Many of my friends will not drink grapefruit juice because grapefruit and its juice interfere with the medications they use. Is there any other juice that would be suitable in this recipe?
@BJ I use Fresca for my mocktail and bitters . And why are we not calling this a phony Negroni.?
Defiantly a winner. As written it taste a bit more like an americano cocktail than a Negroni, as the juniper and other gin botanicals are missing, and the bubbles from the tonic are more reminiscent of Soda water than gin. . It also have a more sugary mouthfeel than a Negroni. I will be make this again, but will try adding juniper berries and coriander seed, and slightly reducing the sugar until I find what is balanced to me.
Delicious! Hits the bitter notes I want in a Negroni but now I can enjoy on a weeknight! If you have bulk hibiscus tea, you’ll need 21 grams for the equivalent of 10 teabags.
Really liked this a lot more than I thought I would. Going to make it again tonight and instead of the regular pepper corns, I’m going to use some left over extra toasted Szechuan pepper corns left over from last night’s stir-fry.