How to Make a Never-Ending ‘Infinity Cocktail’

Order an Infinite Negroni at St. Bibiana, an Italian restaurant within Hotel Bardo in Savannah, Georgia, and a slim white booklet may arrive alongside your crimson-hued drink.

Inside the booklet: a lengthy list of the bottles used to build the drink. As one batch is nearly depleted, another is mixed and added to the previous batch, so it’s ever evolving, not to mention never-ending. This particular “Infinite” cocktail has been offered for 18 months or so.

“It feels rounder, more complex,” than a classic Negroni, says Eben Klemm, who developed the drink menu and is vice president of beverage and service for Left Lane hotel group. 

Indeed, it’s hard to land on a single component. Just when you think you taste Campari or a flicker of juniper from a London dry gin, another flavor seems to ricochet toward you.

Whiskey fans have been building “infinity bottles” for several years. They mix and match various drams and then top them up so the bottle is never empty and perpetually changing.

In spirits, this technique is also known as “fractional blending” or “solera,” a reference to the solera system used to make sherry, but also some rums, whiskeys, and even vinegars. This method blends through a pyramid of casks. Younger liquid flows down into casks that hold older liquid, which creates a complex blend. It’s also similar to how some Mexican chefs build molés, a sauce that develops an increasing depth of flavor as new ingredients are added over time.

Now, some bartenders have extended the concept to cocktails.

Why the Negroni is the ideal Infinity cocktail

The Negroni seems to be the primary beneficiary of the infinity cocktail trend. This makes sense. It’s made without citrus, simple syrup, or other ingredients that could spoil or change flavors over time. It’s also a forgiving format, says Klemm.

“The Negroni is complex and noisy,” he says. The presence of Campari and other red bitters, plus botanicals found in both gin and vermouth, means that it’s rare for one single component to stand out. Klemm’s approach is to spread the love by tripling each ingredient. That means at least three white spirits, “usually gin, though sometimes rum or mezcal finds its way into the mix,” three vermouths or aromatized wines, and three bitter liqueurs, usually Campari and similar red bitters, but sometimes Averna or other amari.

Bingo Drinkery in Reykjavik, Iceland, has an Infinity Negroni that has been in progress since the bar opened in late 2022. As of March 2025, the “big ol’ jug” includes traces of the original batch, plus 93 gins and 81 vermouths. 

In 2018, Jacob Grier, a Portland-based author, entrepreneur, and yes, cocktail magician, created an Infinity Negroni for personal use. His one rule? “I always added to it in equal parts.” The batch is now seven years old. It started out in a small barrel, and he decanted it into a one-liter glass bottle that he keeps in the refrigerator.

“I never let it get empty, [I’m] always topping it off,” says Grier. “The cocktail is recognizably Negroni-ish yet also extremely layered, so it's hard to pinpoint individual flavors.” And if the flavor gets “too unhinged,” he tops it with classic Negroni specs (equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari).

Spirit forward is the way to go

Other popular drink options for the Infinite treatment include the Manhattan, Martini, and Martinez, although any spirits-only drink would likely work.

In Bath, England, The Dark Horse has garnered attention for its Infinite Daiquiri, which started in April 2023. It’s not truly an Infinite cocktail, but an Infinite rum blend to which lime and sugar are added to create a Daiquiri. But let’s not spoil all the fun.

“The Infinite Daiquiri was a simple idea I had for a fun ‘signature drink,’” says Angus Winchester, who formerly helmed the bar (he left Dark Horse in 2024). 

The result: a “twisted love child” of inspirations that includes Infinity whiskey bottles, and the philosophy of tiki godfather Donn Beach, who declared famously that “what one rum can’t give you, three rums can.” With that in mind, “just imagine what an infinite mix of rums can do,” says Winchester.

Dark Horse’s Infinite Daiquiri concept is that each guest who orders the drink gets to select a rum. About an ounce-and-a-half of that rum is added to an existing batch of rums kept within a five-liter container that sits on the back bar. Like St. Bibiana, Dark Horse keeps a running list of what’s added. What started as a blend of 40 rums hit a 1,000-rum milestone at the end of March.

Since each rum pour will be slightly different, “that drink is 100% unique,” says Winchester. “It can never, ever, ever be possible to be made again.”

How to make an Infinity Cocktail at home

Focus on spirits-only drinks, like Negronis or Manhattans

Yes, vermouth, fortified with a spirit, counts here. The point is to avoid ingredients like citrus or sugar that have the potential to spoil or develop “off” flavors over time. You seek to build a drink for the long haul.

Use a neutral vessel

Opt for a glass bottle rather than a barrel, which would impart flavors and/or tannins to the liquid over time.

Add a little at a time

Taste it and decide if it needs more of a particular component. For example, Grier tops up his Infinite Manhattan with a “standard formula” of American whiskey, sweet vermouth, or bitters. But it’s not always the same whiskey or vermouth, so he might tweak the amounts added.

Keep track of what’s added to the drink 

This is optional, but it allows for future bragging rights.

Store it in the fridge or freezer

Chilling will help preserve the drink, especially if it’s made with fortified wine. This will also keep the drink ready to serve right away. “It’s fun and convenient to always have a simple cocktail on hand that I can simply pour over ice and be good to go, with no fuss,” says Grier.

Consider a communal version

For a truly complex Infinite cocktail, Klemm suggests to invite friends to contribute a bottle (or partly empty bottle) that go into a specific drink. Those components can be mixed together at a party to create a “communal Negroni” that can be shared on the spot, bottled and sent home with each guest, or topped up at a future event. “Maybe the future of the Infinite Cocktail is a communal Negroni,” he says.