I was both a) delighted and b) disappointed to discover, in my late 40's, the negroni, at a hotel in Brisbane Australia - because a) it became my favourite cocktail, and b) I'd somehow never had one before.

It's not, at first glance, a complex drink - but has somehow become surprisingly popular the past few years.

Experimenting with variations on the original brand-name elements is doubtless a big part of the fun - Campari is a very sweet bitters, and Rosso Antico is a competent but not spectacular vermouth. The third component is gin, of course.

Here in Australia there's some delightful local options for each of those three ingredients.

(Switching out the bitters for Fernet-Branca turns it from a Negroni into a Hanky Panky -- which is worth knowing about, but perhaps not worth the experience of drinking.)

TFA mentions in passing a 'rusty nail' which is even simpler - barely worth the moniker of cocktail - a blend of whisky and Drambuie (itself a blend of whisky and honey, herbs, spices).

I recall my first fondly, even if my liver does not -- a generous pour, foisted into my hands by the spitting image of John Cleese (along with his partner - an American version of Patsy-from-ab-fab) at a bed and breakfast, somewhere near Loch Ness, and sometime towards the end of the last century.

I discovered the negroni sbagliato on holiday in Italy just a few weeks before it blew up on tiktok. Still my go-to summer drink.