I still recall my very first experience with Campari. I hadn’t yet fully entered the world of cocktails, but my culinary sensibilities still urged me to be adventuresome at discovering new flavors and experiences when the opportunity arose. In this particular case I found myself on my first “business class” flight, where I learned that there were a variety of spirits and liqueurs I could partake of as part of the normal service. I glanced through the list of products available and “Campari” stood out. I had heard of it, and I think I could picture the bottle in my mind, but I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to ever try it. The stewardess came by…
“Would you like something to drink sir?”
“Yes, I think I’ll have a Campari.”
“Would you like soda or water with that?”
“Neither, just straight is fine.”
The shock on her face at that time should have clued me in to what was awaiting me. “Ice?” she asked, almost pleadingly.
“No, straight will be perfectly fine.”
My order arrived; its deep ruby red color was enticing as I poured it from the small little bottle into my glass. I took a small sip.
YOWSER!
This had to be the absolute worst thing I had ever had in my life. My GOD it was bitter. But I ordered, it, so I drank it, every last drop.
I was perplexed however. This was an internationally known product. It sold all over the world, people drank it, and apparently loved doing so. There had to be some redeeming quality to it that was currently eluding me. From that point forward I made an effort to ask bartenders, when the opportunity arose, if they perhaps knew of a “good” drink made with Campari. They would make me Negronis, Americanos, and probably some other various drinks from their repertoire, but each time that heavy handed bitterness that I recalled from my first experience grabbed my palate and shook it hard. Gradually however, I started to notice that I was beginning to like it. The complexities that were masqueraded by the overpowering bitterness were gradually allowing their presence to be known. Today, Campari is one of my favorite liquors, often enjoying it straight, no ice.
As a product, Campari sprung to life in the 1860’s, using a recipe originated by Gaspare Campai which consisted of 60 different ingredients, a recipe which is a closely guarded secret.
One ingredient which is known about Campari, is the one which gives it its brilliant red hue. At one time, red was one of the most valued colors, reserved for noblemen and royalty. This was because it was a very expensive dye to acquire. The main source for red dye was coming from the Mediterranean, in the form of very small little pellets. These pellets would be ground into a powder and used to dye cloth, leather, makeup, and a variety of products. The source of these pellets were a closely guarded secret, it was debated amongst customers as to if they were mineral, plant, secretion, or what. The color was called “Crimson”, and it’s source was an insect known as the “Kermes Vermilio”, which lived in the Kermes oak which could be found across the western Mediterranean. The cost of red dye plummeted when a new source was located, this time from the New World. It was still in the form of an insect, this time the “Cochineal”, a small insect which lived on certain type of cactus which grew across Central, and lower North America. It was specifically the carminic acid which the insect used as a defensive shield which produced the brilliant red hues, and from where the name of the color “Carmine” comes from. And this is where the color for Campari comes from as well, specifically “Cochineal Crimson E120”. The other ingredients which make up its complex flavors? Well, that’s a secret.
