Campari

Campari is a alcoholic beverage produced by infusing bitter herbs, aromatic plants and different kinds of fruit into alcohol and water, Campari is known as an apéritif type of drink, a drink made to stimulate the appetite before a meal. Campari was originally dyed red with a type of dye called carmine, which is produced through the crushing of so called Cochineal insects. However, it is known that the Gruppo Campari, the company producing Campari, changed the method of dying the drink to an alternative colorant in the year of 2006.

Who Is Gaspare Campari

Gaspare Campari is the inventor of this drink, the first Campari made some time between 1862 and 1867. The production today still follows the same confidential recipe made by Gaspare over 140 years ago, the recipe is so secret that only one single person in the world knows it in its entirety. Averagely, the alcohol level of Campari varies between 20.5% and 25%, sometimes even as high as 28%, but in Italian market, so called Campari Soda, made by mixing Campari with carbonated water, has an alcohol level of only 10%.

Campari Origins

The first Campari Soda was created in 1932 and has its own distinct type of bottle designed by the futurist painter, writer, sculptor and Italian called Fortunato Depero. Campari is a major ingredient in two cocktails known as Negroni, invented either in France as a digestive aid or in Florence, Italy by a man who wanted to add gin to his favorite drink, the Americano, which is the other cocktail having Campari as a major ingredient. This drink is classed as a bitter, an alcoholic drink containing herbs and has a bitter or bittersweet flavor, which is usually flavored further with citrus. Most bitters used to be patented as medicines, but these days they are considered as digestifs and are used either as apéritifs or flavoring in cocktails.