Negroni Week Spotlight: Jonny Raglin

You can take the boy out of Oklahoma, but you’ll never take the Oklahoma out of Jonny Raglin. Born and raised in The Sooner State, the recent tornados hit close to home for Raglin, the bar owner behind San Francisco’s Comstock Saloon, even though his address is now more than 1,500 miles away. So Raglin rallied two-dozen other Bay Area locales to join in Negroni Week’s charitable efforts and raise money for the Oklahoma Chapter of the Red Cross. On the heels of a hugely successful Negroni Happy Hour at Comstock (they raised more than $1,000 on Monday alone) and gearing up for the honky tonk-themed Negroni fundraiser at Local Edition on Sunday, June 2 (click here for tickets), Raglin chatted with us about his first proper Negroni, his favorite variation and the one word he’d use to describe the drink.

My first Negroni was … in Oklahoma City. It was heavy on the gin and pretty bitter for my fledgling palate.

The first proper Negroni I had (the one that made me fall in love with the drink) was at the Dukes Hotel in London—we craft ours at Comstock after that.

In a word, the Negroni is … “Supercalabitterlusciouscandiedaladoshus.” Because “equal parts genius” is three words.

My favorite Negroni variation is … the Old Pal with equal parts rye whiskey, dry vermouth and Campari.

I most love the Negroni because … it’s raising money for my folks back in Oklahoma.