This year’s Campari Calendar stars the French born actress Eva Green, and celebrates Campari’s intriguing history.
Only 9 999 copies of the calendar have been distributed internationally.
To mark the release of the calendar, Campari has proved 12 cocktail recipes - and the stories that go with them.
Note: One UK fluid ounce equates to 28ml.
NEGRONI
1 part (1 oz) Campari
1 part (1 oz) Gin
1 part (1 oz) red vermouth (Campari recommends Cinzano Rosso or Cinzano 1757)
1 slice of orange
Pour all ingredients directly into a rock glass filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of orange.
The Negroni cocktail was created in Florence between 1919 and 1920 by Count Camillo Negroni.
In the 1920s, the Count was a regular at the city’s Caffè Casoni and one day, tired of the Americano aperitif, he asked Fosco Scarselli, who was working behind the bar to add a touch of gin rather than soda to his Americano.
The Count’s ’usual’ became known by the other clients as Count Negroni’s Americano, or the “Americano with a touch of gin”. The cocktail was finally named after the Count who adored it.
Today the cocktail is considered to be one of the most famous Italian cocktails in the world
CAMPARI AND SELTZ:
1 part (2 oz) Campari
3 parts (top) soda water
Prepare directly inside the glass. Pour the chilled Campari and top up with soda. Garnish with an orange slice if desired.
This was the most popular drink in the bar Camparino, opened by Davide Campari himself back in 1915 and which celebrated its 100th year in 2015. Davide Campari provided the Camparino with a revolutionary pumping system that sent a recent invention right up to the counter – soda water-. The pumping system is still working a century later.
MI-TO (MILANO TORINO)
1 part ( 1 oz) Campari
1 part (1 oz) red vermouth (Campari recommends Cinzano Rosso or Cinzano 1757)
Build in a rocks glass full of ice. Garnish with a peel of orange.
In Italy, around 1870. Campari bitter (made in Milan) came together with red vermouth (produced in Turin). It is hardly surprising that the name MI-TO sounds exactly like the Italian word for “myth”.
CAMPARI ORANGE:
1 part (1, ¼ oz) Campari
3 parts (top) orange juice
Pour the ingredients into a tall glass filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of orange.
This 1960s cocktail was originally named after Garibaldi, an Italian soldier who fought for the Italian Unification Movement (1860), and made particular reference to his landing in Sicily. The cocktail represents the unification of north and south Italy. The Campari is from Milan and the oranges are from Sicily. The colours are also reminiscent of the red uniforms of Garibaldi’s men and the Sicilian oranges.
AMERICANO:
1 part (1 oz) Campari
1 part (1 oz) red vermouth (Campari recommends Cinzano Rosso or Cinzano 1757)
Splash of soda
Pour the ingredients directly in an old-fashioned glass filled with ice-cubes, add a splash of soda water and garnish with orange slice and lemon peel.
The Americano was the original drink that led to the creation of several pleasant, well-known variations such as the Negroni.
One story has it t that this cocktail originated in the 30’s and links the name of the drink to that of Primo Carnera, who had been dubbed ‘L’Americano’, after his victory in New York.
Yet another version tells it was named Americano in honour of its popularity amongst American tourists during Prohibition.
The Americano is one of James Bond’s favourite cocktails (and is also the first cocktail ordered in the 007 Casino Royale novel).
THE BOULEVARDIER:
2 parts (1 oz) Campari
2 parts (1 oz) red vermouth (Campari recommends Cinzano Rosso or Cinzano 1757)
3 parts (1, ½ oz) Bourbon Whiskey (Campari recommends Wild Turkey)
Pour all ingredients into mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
During Prohibition, some of the best American bartenders made for Europe, particularly Paris.
The legend says that one of them, Harry MacElhone, who had been a barman at the Plaza in New York, moved to Paris and created this cocktail at the New York Bar where he worked.
He later bought the establishment, renaming it Harry's New York Bar.
Harry published the recipe for the Boulevardier in his book Barflies and Cocktails in 1927.
SPUTNIK:
2 parts (1 oz) Campari
3 parts (1, ¼ oz) Vodka (Campari recommends SKYY Vodka)
1 part (1/2 oz) Triple Sec
2 parts (1 oz) sweet & sour
Shake well all the ingredients with ice, than strain it into a chilled cocktail glass.
The story tells that this cocktail was created to celebrate the Russians, who in October 1957 put into orbit the first artificial satellite called Sputnik (friend of travel). The drink was created by the head barman at the Hotel De Paris in Monte Carlo on the occasion of a visit from a well-known Russian diplomat at that time.
OLD PAL:
1 part ( 1oz) Campari
1 part (1 oz) Rye Whiskey
1 part (1 oz) dry vermouth (Campari recommends Cinzano Extra Dry)
Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice cubes. Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange peel and red cherry cocktail
The drink was created in the 20s in America, thanks to a barman who reinterpreted a classic like the Negroni to create a drier version by adding Rye Whiskey and dry vermouth,
The story is that this was Richard Burton's favourite drink.
CAMPARI ORANGE PASSION:
1 part (1 ¼ oz) Campari
2 slices of orange
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 parts (top) orange juice
1 red cherry
Some crushed ice
Prepare the cocktail directly in a tall glass. Place orange and brown sugar in the glass and crush to a pulp. Add crushed ice. Add Campari and orange juice and gently stir. Garnish with red cherry cocktail.
In 2010 to mark the 150th anniversary of Campari, Campari Orange – a symbol of the brand’s long history – is revisited with a modern twist to show that passion, when authentic, can withstand the passing of time.
NEGRONI SBAGLIATO:
1 part (1 oz) Campari
1 part ( 1 oz) red vermouth (Campari recommends Cinzano Rosso or Cinzano 1757)
1 part (1 oz) sparkling wine (Campari recommends Cinzano Pinot Chardonnay)
Build in a double rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a slice of orange.
The Negroni Sbagliato was invented by Mirko Stocchetto at Bar Basso in Milan around 1972 and it is a twist on the Negroni.
While making a Negroni for a customer one night at Bar Basso, Mirko grabbed the bottle of sparkling wine instead of the gin by mistake. He realised that this variation had some sense, so eventually, he poured the sparkling wine and because of the odd occurrence, he called it Sbagliato and history was made. In Italian, “Sbagliato” means mistaken.
ROSA BIANCA:
2 parts ( 1 oz) Campari
2 parts (1 oz) Rose liqueur
3 parts (1, ½ oz) orange juice
3/4 drops anise
Shake all the ingredients with ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with anise.
The legend tells that this drink was created by Angelo Giachino, owner of the futurist restaurant Taverna del Santopalato which was renamed the Taverna d'Alluminio.
SHAKEN CAMPARI
1 part ( 2 oz) Campari
Shake well with ice and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.
New York, around 1872. Campari and the shaker (patented in the Big Apple in that year) were invented at almost the same time and soon became a twosome. Perhaps this is why together they create something special.
IOL, adapted from a press release