The road between Milan and Turin (or Torino as the Italians say) is barely 2 hours of wide and boring highway. Perhaps the most exciting thing on the way is the dome of Novara, a small town of 100,000 inhabitants.
All the more exciting is the mixology route between Milan, where Campari originated, and Turin, the birthplace of vermouth. The route links no less than three classic drinks: the Americano, Negroni and Boulevardier. It also explains the enormous success of the Campari Group, the sixth largest spirits company in the world.
So get out your Campari, Cinzano, some soda water and plenty of ice and let’s go. Don’t worry, there will be recipes too!
FROM CAFFÉ CAMPARI TO AN EMPIRE
Gaspare Campari was a bartender who mixed his own drinks in his spare time. In 1860 he created his own bitter in Novara. Campari’s bitters are blended according to a recipe that has remained secret for over 150 years, but the drink has a distinct bright red color from carmine (dried cossack shells – the same as in jelly raspberries!) and hints of the citrus fruit chinotto.
In 1867 it opens the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II next to the Duomo di Milano, Milan’s magnificent cathedral. Campari decides to try his luck in the big city. He opens Caffé Campari in the mall and starts serving his Campari Bitter. While in Turin, the sweet red vermouth has become a big seller and Campari decides to create the Milan-Turin drink, with equal parts Campari and red vermouth. With a splash of soda water, it becomes more appealing to foreign tourists. The Americano is born.
When Gaspare dies, one of his sons, the visionary Davide Campari, takes over and develops the company further. Davide has an eye for influencer- marketing and collabs as we say today. He introduces Campari to the French Riviera with his girlfriend, opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Davide commissions the artist Fortunato Depero to create advertising posters and design the bottle for the world’s first alcoholic soft drink – Campari Soda, 1 part Campari and 2 parts soda in a finished bottle. The result is a piece of art history.
Although Campari continues to grow and develop, the Campari family comes to an unfortunate end. The last living descendant bequeaths his shares to the manager Domenico Garavoglia. Under the Garavoglia family, Campari begins to acquire other brands. Today it owns a portfolio of 50 spirit brands including Aperol, Cinzano, Grand Marnier, SKYY Vodka, Wild Turkey and Appleton Estate.
THE COUNTS NEGRONI AND A FRENCH GOSSIP MAGAZINE
But what about Negroni and Boulevardier?
Well, somewhere in the 20th century a Count Negroni got tired of the soda water and asked his bartender for something more invigorating. The bartender then swaps the soda for gin, creating the Negroni. There is (as usual with drinks) only one problem – we don’t know which Count Negroni. It may have been Camillo Negroni, an Italian count who supposedly lived a wild life in America around the turn of the century, before returning to Italy and asking his bartender for a new drink. If he even existed. For some descendants have theorized that it was another Negroni, French-born Pascal Oliver de Negroni de Cardi, who created the drink during his time in Africa.
Be that as it may, the Negroni also gets a very successful spinoff by accident. The Negroni Sbagliato, or ‘wrong Negroni’, is said to have originated in Milan’s Bar Basso when a stressed-out bartender swaps gin for prosecco.
What about Boulevardier? It was created elsewhere, but with an equally exciting history. Erskine Gwynne was an American dandy and heir to the Vanderbilt family who for a time lived and published the gossip magazine Boulevardier in Paris. Erskine is said to have been friends with a certain Scottish bartender Harry MacElhone, and it is in his cocktail book Barflies and Cocktails where Erskine’s recipe is mentioned. If Harry’s name rings a bell, it is the Harryn – the man behind the world’s most famous bar, Harry’s New York Bar, a regular haunt for writers and the place where both the Bloody Mary and the French 75 are said to have been created.
AMERICANO
Enough history, now it’s time for drinks. The base is always equal parts Campari and red vermouth (Cinzano is, appropriately, part of the Campari family). Then you choose: soda water for Americano, gin for Negroni, prosecco for Negroni Sbagliato and whiskey or bourbon for Boulevardier. Simple!
Ingredients
- 3 cl Campari Bitter
- 3 cl sweet red vermouth, such as Cinzano
- A splash of soda water (3-5 cl)
Do the following
- Mix the ingredients in a glass with ice
- Pour in the soda water and stir.
- Garnish with half an orange slice and lemon zest.
NEGRONI
Ingredients
- 3 cl Campari Bitter
- 3 cl sweet red vermouth, such as Cinzano
- 3 cl gin
Do the following
- Mix the ingredients in a glass with ice
- Stirring
- Garnish with half an orange slice.
WRONG NEGRONI
Ingredients
- 3 cl Campari Bitter
- 3 cl sweet red vermouth, such as Cinzano
- 3 cl prosecco
Do the following
- Mix the ingredients in a glass with ice
- Stirring
- Garnish with half an orange slice.
BOULEVARD
Ingredients
- 3 cl Campari Bitter
- 3 cl sweet red vermouth, such as Cinzano
- 4.5 ml bourbon or rye whiskey
Do the following
- Mix the ingredients in a glass with ice cubes
- Stirring
- Garnish with orange zest or lemon zest
