The process

How I make it.

1
Founder
A personal passion turned into a bottle.
3
Ingredients
Carefully chosen. Expertly balanced.
100%
Hand finished
No automation. No shortcuts.
500ml
Per bottle
And as the bottle empties, a secret is revealed.
The barrel

Smaller than industry standard.

The barrel is hand-made, oak, and charred inside with fire. It is made in Mexico near the US border. The benefits of the small barrel are that it increases the wood to liquid ratio so the oak does its work faster — and also that it doesn't take up much room at home.

It lives in a quiet corner of my bar. There's nothing dramatic about the space. On a shelf next to the glasses. It looks more like a hobby than a business.

It still mostly is.

The process

Mix, rest, taste, bottle, number.

Each batch follows the same recipe: Gin, Campari, Vermouth — a classic 1:1:1 Negroni. What changes everything is the choice of gin and vermouth.

That choice isn't arbitrary. The gin gives the vermouth direction. The barrel does the rest, pulling the vermouth into balance and softening the Campari without taking its edge away.

On day fourteen, I taste it. Then I bottle it by hand. Each bottle is numbered with batch and bottle, then finished with a hand-painted edge of gold on the front label. A small touch for a drink that deserves one.

I kept the first bottle I ever made. It still reminds me where this started.

"Every bottle starts with a simple question: Would I serve this to my best friends?"

— Kai, on the craftsmanship that goes into each bottle

The Kai Rosso logo — interwoven triangles within a circle, with a hidden A at the centre.
The mark, decoded

Three meanings, one shape.

  1. i.
    The hidden A — for Alchemy.
    At the centre of the mark, a hidden A. For alchemy. The transformation of single ingredients into something more than their sum.
  2. ii.
    The triangle — three equal parts.
    Gin, Campari, sweet vermouth. The Negroni's whole personality is its symmetry. One part each, balanced against the others. Three points on the triangle.
  3. iii.
    The outer lines — time in oak.
    Three curving lines, interwoven, looping back into themselves. The slow passing of two weeks in the barrel. The drink turning into something else.
Honestly, though…

A short list of things that have gone wrong.

The brand admits things. Premium spirits never do. We think it's more interesting this way.

Kai's signature

Made by hand, at home, in Mexico.