Campari () is an Italian alcoholic

liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...

, considered an apéritif of the ''bitter'' variety (and not an amaro) by Italians while considered an apéritif of the amaro variety by Americans, obtained from the infusion of

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

s and fruit (including chinotto and cascarilla) in alcohol and water. It is a type of

bitters A bitters (plural also ''bitters'') is traditionally an Alcoholic drink, alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a Bitterness (taste), bitter or bittersweet Flavoring, flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters ...

, characterised by its dark red colour. It is produced by the Davide

Campari Group Davide Campari-Milano N.V., trading as Campari Group, is an Italian company active since 1860 in the branded drink industry, beverage industry. It produces Distilled beverage, spirits, wines, and non-alcoholic apéritifs. From its signature produ ...

, a multinational company based in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

Campari was invented in 1860 by

Gaspare Campari Gaspare Campari (12 March 1828 – 14 April 1882) was an Italian drinks manufacturer. Born in Cassolnovo, Italy,Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

. It was originally coloured with

carmine Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the Cochineal, cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson Lake pigment, lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium coordination complex, compl ...

dye, derived from crushed cochineal insects, which gave the drink its distinctive red colour. Campari Group discontinued the use of carmine in 2006. In 1904, Campari's first production plant was opened in

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; , ), locally referred to as just Sesto (), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It was awarded with the honorary title of ''città'' (city) by decree of 10 Apri ...

, near

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. Under the direction of Davide Campari, Gaspare's son, the company began to export the beverage, first to

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

, then overseas. The Campari brand is now distributed in over 190 countries. Campari is a registered trademark of Davide Campari Milano S.P.A., which is part of Gruppo Campari (Campari Group).

Critics

As of December 2024, Campari Group continues to operate in Russia. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Campari Group announced the suspension of all investments in Russia, including advertising and promotional activities, and scaled down operations to the minimum necessary to pay its local staff. Despite these measures, Campari's products remain available in the Russian market. In August 2023, reports indicated that Campari planned to introduce a new aperitif, Sarti Rosa, in Russia, suggesting a potential expansion of its product offerings in the country.

Use

Campari is often used in

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

s and is commonly served with

soda water Carbonated water is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure, or occurring due to natural geological processes. Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the water an effervescent quali ...

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

juice (most often

pink grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, Taste#Sourness, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat Taste#Bitterness, bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from p ...

juice), often garnished with either

blood orange The blood orange is a variety of orange (fruit), orange with crimson, near blood-colored flesh. It is one of the sweet orange varieties (Citrus × sinensis, ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis''). It is also known as the raspberry orange. The dark flesh ...

blood lime Blood limes (or 'Australian Blood Lime') are a hybrid citrus fruit developed by the CSIRO project to investigate salt-resistant crops. While the limes proved suitable for high-salt conditions, they have seen no commercial development; the fir ...

slice (mainly in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) or mixed with

prosecco Prosecco (, ) is an Italian wine, Italian Denominazione di origine controllata#Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC), DOC or Denominazione di origine controllata#Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG), DOCG white wine pro ...

as a spritz. Campari is an essential ingredient in several IBA official cocktails (of which Campari is a sponsor): the

negroni The negroni is a cocktail, made of equal parts gin, vermouth rosso (red, semi-sweet), and Campari, generally served on the rocks, and commonly garnished with an orange slice or orange peel. It is considered an apéritif. The drink has been doc ...

, the Americano (which was named at a time when few Americans were aware of Campari), the boulevardier, and the old pal (removed from IBA list in 1987), as well as other drinks such as the Garibaldi. It is a common ingredient in spritzes, though other apéritif bitters are also common. In the Italian market, Campari mixed with

is sold in individual bottles as Campari Soda (10% alcohol by volume). Campari Soda is packaged in a distinctive bottle that was designed by

Fortunato Depero Fortunato Depero (30 March 1892 – 29 November 1960) was an Italian Futurism (art), futurist painter, writer, sculptor, and graphic designer. Biography Although born in Fondo or in the neighboring village of Malosco, according to other sou ...

in 1932.

Ratings

'' Wine Enthusiast'' has reviewed Campari on a number of occasions, giving it a score of "96/100" in 2023.

Gallery

File:Bottle of Campari (United States).jpg, Bottle of Campari. File:Campari Soda retouched.jpg, Campari soda. File:Campari Soda (2).jpg, Campari soda.

References

External links

*
"Campari: the Italian classic that still has style"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''
Chapter 9: "Campari: product diversification and international expansion"
''Corporate Strategy and Firm Growth: Creating Value for Shareholders'', by Angelo Dringoli
The Art of Campari
{{Alcoholic beverages Campari brands Bitters Italian liqueurs Italian brands Products introduced in 1860