Remember when your Dad let you taste his Sam Adams after you repeatedly begged for a sip, and you concluded beer was gross and you'd never understand why anyone would drink it? But now you're older, wiser and drunker, and realize that beer was put on this earth by some supreme being to enhance bonfires, pizza, and how you perceive your own jokes.
So consider Campari for a moment, the alarmingly bright red apertif you thought was only consumed by foreigners smoking Treasurers as they silently judge you. If you tasted the liquor in your unrefined youth—either straight up on a dare or in a classic Negroni cocktail—you're familiar with the herbal, aromatic and bitter flavor (traditionally a Negroni is one part gin, one part vermouth rosso, and one part Campari). Perhaps after that first sip you declared the spirit "totally gross" and went back to drinking your canned sugar.
Some Gothamist staffers couldn't forget that astringent smack, so when Campari offered to show us how wrong we were, we put on our Big Girl drinking pants and let them change our minds. The brand came to Gothamist HQ for a happy hour (what, liquor companies don't make artisanal cocktails in your office?) with PDT bartender Jeff Bell, who mixed us a few batches of Negronis plus his own creation, the "Saint Ambrose Cup," which combined Campari with Blanco Tequila, lemon juice, simple syrup and cucumber.
By and large, staffers who were self-described Campari-phobes preferred the tequila-centric update over the traditional cocktail. For the uninitiated, Bell's Blanco Tequila served as a more accessible entrée into the flavor of Campari, with the simple syrup and tequila rounding the Campari's bitter edges into something smooth and familiar. The "Saint Ambrose Cup" won't be on the list at PDT, but we're told the bar is adding another Campari-based cocktail for your imbibing pleasure in the next few weeks.
"Saint Ambrose Cup"
So besides the classic Negroni and PDT's forthcoming cocktail, where should you go if you want to get bitter and like it?
If you dig intense bitterness…Newly opened Greenwich Project—run by the same people behind Mulberry Project and Vinatta Project—is serving up the "Intercontinental," created by John McCarthy, which contains Campari plus other liqours like Bols Genever and Combier Kummel.
If you want to swig swine…Tim Cooper at GoldBar infused his Campari with salted pork to add even more complex notes to the spirit. The "Born Under a Star" uses the pork-infused Campari and mixes it with Sweet Vermouth and Mezcal Vida for a salty, bitter, sweet and potent drink.
If you love Manhattans...bourbon's natural sweetness provides a great foil to the herbal flavor of Campari and bitters. "The Brunswick" at The NoMad combines those ingredients with Averna—a sweet Italian liquer—sweet vermouth, Maraschino Liqueur and Sarsaparilla for a sweet and smokey cocktail with a touch of bitterness for balance.
