It’s that time of year for Christians to give up something to prove their devotion to God. I’m not really practicing but think there can be a lesson applied to quality drinking. It’s time to give up the back the bad cocktails.

I’ll be spending the next 40 days reviewing some of the amazing variety of liqueurs out there to expand your bar and bring more creativity to your drinks. I call it – 40 Days, 40 Liqueurs.

I have a weakness for liqueurs and I have a lot in my home bar. But what is a liqueur? It is an alcoholic based drink that is flavored with fruit, nuts, cream, herbs, spices, flowers and is sweetened. These means there is lots of variety in the category and the sky is the limit.

Our first day is devoted to Campari. It is one of the most popular, name brand Italian aperitifs. The drink is made with herbs and flowers and is bitter. If you are not used to drinking bitter things, it will catch you the first few times. But is also sweet making a wonderful dichotomy.

Unique Facts:

• The red color was originally produced from red insets, the cochineal. This has been replaced with food dyes (in most places).
• Campari is known for it’s amazing art. Some of the original poster layouts were from designer, Bruno Munari.
• Campari was one of the first modern Olympic sponsors for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Cocktails:

• The most famous cocktail is the Negroni. An even blend of gin, sweet vermouth and Campari.
• The Americano is related to the Negroni but without the gin and add soda
• From the Beta Cocktail Book, The Arbitrary Nature of Time is Whiskey, Campari, Cherry Liqueur and bitters.

How I enjoy:

• My favorite way to enjoy Campari is on a hot day with ice and soda. The bitter and sweet cut through the hot weather and are very relaxing. At 24% alcohol it won’t knock you on your butt yet it is still shelf stable.

I hope this article opened your eyes to Campari and I hope the next 39 will show you some of the variety in this category. Please let me know your comments and Budmo!