Ooh, Stunning

A Visit to Bar Basso, Après le Déluge.

A Negroni Sbagliato at Bar Basso, in its proper glass.

Oh, Cocktail Community, what are we to do about TikTok? Because of this inescapable social media platform, we have had to sit by helpless as the greater world has learned—via short videos and with the innocence of new-born babes—of the existence of the Negroni Sbagliato and Kir Royale. These cocktails—52 years old and much, much older, respectively—are ones that we have lived with and studied and tried to promote for decades. But just try telling that to the fans of “House of Dragons” and “Emily in Paris.” They do not care. These drinks were born yesterday, as far as they’re concerned. They are the cocktails of late 2022 and early 2023, of last month, of this month, of next month, of NOW.

Because of this video, bars across the world have been forced to put the Negroni Spagliato on their menu. I was in Boston in November and saw a drink on a menu called “Ohh, Stunning,” after a line in the TikTok clip.