You’ll find your favorite Campari cocktail in this list, from the classic Negroni to the Old Flame. This bittersweet cherry liqueur is more than just an apéritif!
If you’ve never had it before, you can learn more about what Campari tastes like. It’s usually described as bittersweet cherry, but there’s more to it than that.
Campari is a bitter that was invented in 1860 by Gaspare Campari in Italy. The recipe is a closely guarded secret, but it involves infusing various herbs and fruits in alcohol and water.
Today, Campari is still produced according to the original recipe and is enjoyed by people all over the world.
Best Campari Cocktails
The Negroni is a very simple drink recipe. This classic cocktail features just three ingredients: gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. It tastes like cherry, wine and citrus, but with noticeable bitter notes. It can be a bit of an acquired taste.
Recipe for the Americano classic cocktail which features Campari for a bittersweet cherry flavor. Great for an afternoon pick-me-up.
The Boulevardier drink recipe is a lot like the Negroni, except for one important detail. It uses rye whiskey instead of gin, and the flavor difference is surprising.
The Red Nail is a classic drink recipe that's very simple (just two ingredients), but delicious. It's also gorgeous to look at.
The Jack’s Apple cocktail is apple juice based with scotch for the liquor and a dash of Campari. That makes the flavor mostly apple, but with faint notes of other fruit and bitterness.
The Old Flame cocktail has a nostalgic feel, as you might expect from the name. Dale DeGroff invented it almost by accident: he’d chosen Negronis to serve with a dinner, and the people he served it to those who didn’t like the bitters-based flavor. He asked the bartender to add in orange juice and Cointreau.
The Hamlet cocktail is basically a Screwdriver with less orange juice and a half-ounce of Campari instead of a pinch of salt. The Campari adds a little bitterness to it, which works well against the fruity sweetness of the orange juice (not unlike the pinch of salt in the Screwdriver).
The South Beach Cocktail is perfect for a day on the beach. It’s a little more sophisticated than the usual fruit juice based cocktails associated with hot summer sun and white sand that burns your feet. But it’s mostly orange juice with a reasonably good helping of alcohol
that’s very drinkable.
The following is the recipe I landed on after some trial and error from playing with the other recipes for this drink. I start with grapefruit vodka – Absolut Ruby Red – and add to that some ruby red grapefruit juice, a touch of Campari, and then t-Up.
Learn more about the taste of campari from this post.