You Need a Nightcap
Pour one—and relax already.
Created by Anu Apte-Elford, proprietor of Rob Roy in Seattle, the Pizzicato Passage resembles a Negroni, but with the lights turned down low. It contains less gin than a typical Negroni and doubles down on the fortified wine (nutty sherry) and amaro components, adding a splash of chile liqueur to warm from the inside out.
Photographer: Antonis AchilleosI get asked all the time, What exactly is a nightcap, anyway? As the author of a new book on the topic, my standard response is that it’s your last drink of the evening—it’s the pour that caps off your night.
But that’s a little flip. The longer answer, if you have a drink in hand and want to hear it, is to first explain what a nightcap isn’t. It isn’t an aperitivo, designed to rev up your appetite for a meal; it isn’t a drink that’s overly stimulating, which is why I usually put perky gin martinis in the not-a-nightcap column; it isn’t a drink that’s too fussy and distracting. And it sure isn’t multiple drinks—that’s called having another round, not a singular, final nightcap.