Adding Campari to a G&T is our new favourite thing!

With its magnificent colour and iconic botanical complexity, the Italian spirit Campari, which we have sent our members in their September 2020 Gin of the Month box, is a cornerstone of many quintessential gin drinks. If you have ever taken a joyous sip of that classic cocktail, the Negroni, then you will know why. Campari and gin are a match made in heaven!

What you may not have tried, however, is simply adding Campari to your G&T. We have and it’s stunning! You have to try the recipe below. There, you’ll also find everything you need to know about Campari, including why it’s a must-have tipple for every true gin-thusiat.

Since the first sip of Campari was poured in 1860, the top-secret recipe for this iconic Italian spirit has remained exactly the same – and now, more than 150 years later, Campari has more than earned its spot in the annals of cocktail history.

Campari was created in Milan, the glittering capital of Italian style in the north of the country. In fact, its invention coincided with Italian unification, when the states of the Italian peninsula came together to create the nation we know today. As such, Campari captures a key moment in Italian history and has become the symbol of one of Italy’s most cherished cultural rituals: aperitivo.

By the 1910s, Campari’s enterprising new president, Davide Campari – the son of this spirit’s original creator, Gaspare – had begun harnessing the new art of advertising to capture everything his drink was about: style, substance and the art of enjoying life. Its popularity exploded, and drinkers all around the world were eager to experience the art of aperitivo through Campari’s beauty and complexity.

These days, Campari is most famous as one-third of one of the most famous gin cocktails in the world: the Negroni. Elegant, bitter and beautiful in the glass, this cocktail celebrated its 100th anniversary just last year. It was 1919 when Count Negroni – inspired by a recent trip to London, where he discovered a city awash with gin – asked a bartender in Florence to swap the soda water in his Americano cocktail for London Dry gin. A classic of Italian cocktail culture was born.

The Negroni found a new following in the UK in the 2000s – and its increased popularity, according to the Huffington Post, helped to launch the craft gin revolution.  

But the stylish denizens of Northern Italian cities didn’t need to be reminded of this classic cocktail’s complexity and appeal.

But what makes Campari – be it in a Negroni, a Campari Gin & Tonic or any number of other cocktails – a perfect companion for gin? The answer to that is the trademark bitterness of this beautiful spirit, imparted by a super-secret combination of bitter herbs.

In the piazzas of Northern Italy, glimmering red Negronis are sipped before dinner to stimulate the appetite. The complex, bitter taste of this ruby-red drink will entrance you the first time you taste it, and reveal how much it has in common with our favourite spirit.