Campari

Liqueurs & bitters · usually a modifier · in 4 cocktails here

What it is

Italian red bitter aperitivo, herbal and firmly bitter, at 25% ABV. The backbone of the Negroni family.

Typically about £18 a bottle in the UK.

Bitter orange and rhubarb over a sweet start, finishing long and properly bitter. The bitterness builds rather than hits.

Bittering agent and colour. It is the structural opposite of a sweetener and is used to stop a drink being merely pleasant.

Unlocks 4 recipes on Drinki.

Americano IBA The Negroni’s daytime cousin. Bond ordered it first.
Boulevardier IBA A Negroni that spent the winter in Kentucky.
Negroni IBA Equal parts, bitter and beautiful. The one you learn first and drink forever.
Negroni Sbagliato The "mistaken" Negroni — prosecco where the gin should be.

The ingredients that turn up alongside campari far more often than chance would predict.

Nothing substitutes for campari convincingly.

It can itself stand in for aperol.