Bottle Swap: Swedish Punsch

It's time for part two of my latest Bottle Swap with Mr. Muddle! Last month we traded half a bottle of St. George Spiced Pear liqueur and it's become one of my favorite ingredients since then. Today we have a bottle I've been curious about for a long time: Swedish Punsch.

Punch was a big thing back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Individual cocktails were not the norm - if you wanted to go drinking with your friends, you'd get a big bowl of punch to share. This was usually made with rum or arrack and flavored with sugar, fruit juice, and spices. Swedish Punsch was a particular recipe that originated in - you guessed it - Sweden, when the Swedish East India Company began importing arrack from Southeast Asia in 1733. It was often served hot, which is a bit unique for a punch (but understandable given the climate in Sweden).

Punch was popular enough across Europe that many distilleries began bottling pre-mixed punches. Swedish Punsch was no exception, and the first bottled Swedish Punsch was created in the 1840's. It was popular enough that bottles of it ended up in the US and England, where enterprising bartenders began using it in cocktails. Prohibition and World War II limited its availability and, like many unique spirits from this time, it all but disappeared on the international stage. With the revived interest in classic cocktails, Kronan began bottling and exporting Swedish Punsch in 2012.

So what's in a bottle of Swedish Punsch? It's a blend of both arrack (a Southeast Asian spirit made from red rice and/or sugarcane) and Caribbean rum, along with citrus, spices, and sugar. It's essentially a bottled cocktail that you can enjoy on the rocks as-is. The label boasts "notes of rich toffee, smoke, molasses, and leather." These flavors are definitely all there, but I'd say the smoke and leather take a backseat to the bright toffee sweetness, spice, and classic "funk" you'd expect from a Jamaican rum.

Swedish Punsch

Alcohol Content: 26%
Price: $30
Popular Cocktails: Doctor Cocktail, Havana, Waldorf

After reading about Swedish Punsch I was intrigued by the Doctor Cocktail, one of the simplest and best-known Swedish Punsch drinks. It's essentially a Daiquiri that uses Swedish Punsch instead of a sweetener. I also enjoyed reading Fred Yarm's writeup on Cocktail Virgin Slut, which includes some advice on what other flavors work well with Swedish Punsch. I decided to mash-up the Doctor Cocktail with a well-known Tiki drink, the Jungle Bird, to make a Doctor Bird. This is the local name of the national bird of Jamaica, a beautiful hummingbird with an incredibly long tail (and the subject of my undergraduate thesis research). I love the way this drink came out. It's bright and tropical with a hint of bitterness. It's also a lovely shade of orange!

Don't forget to head over to Mr. Muddle's blog and check out his Swedish Punsch drink, the Field Promotion!

Doctor Bird

1 1/2 oz. Plantation Pineapple Rum
1 oz. Swedish Punsch
1/2 oz. Aperol
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. Demerara syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe and garnish with a slice of pineapple.

Historical information came from Cocktail Virgin Slut and Punch.

Recipe Round-Up: The Negroni

Unless you're living under a rock (or, you know, not on social media), you probably know that it's Negroni Week! Sponsored by Imbibe and Campari, this is a week-long celebration of what is arguably the cocktail world's favorite drink. Bars around the country serve Negronis and Negroni variations, with proceeds from the drinks going to various charities. I'm only getting in on the tail end of the week, but if you're reading this before June 10th, see what venues are serving Negronis for a good cause near you here.

The Negroni and I have a tumultuous history. When I first tried one, I did not like it at all, and I said as much in my original Negroni post three years ago. In the cocktail world, thinking that Negronis are anything less than amazing is a fairly controversial opinion, but I was prepared to stand by it unless I magically developed a taste for them. And I did. Not magically, exactly; I think it was a combination of buying better sweet vermouth (and storing it properly in the refrigerator) and developing a taste for more bitter drinks in general. Other less polarizing cocktails eased me into the flavors of the Negroni, and before I knew it I was a convert. But I still understand how someone might not enjoy them, especially if they're new to Campari or cocktails in general. So whether you love a classic Negroni or are looking for your gateway drink, I've rounded up some Negroni variations in honor of this iconic equal-parts cocktail.

Assume that all of these should be stirred over ice and strained into a rocks glass over ice (though the last two can also be served in a coupe). Alternatively you can build them in the glass for an even easier cocktail.

Classic Negroni

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth
Orange twist

The original: easy to remember, easy to make, and always great. Opinions will differ on the best gin and sweet vermouth for the job, but my go-tos are The Botanist or Wire Works and either Cocchi Vermouth di Torino or Carpano Antica Formula.

White Negroni

2 oz. gin
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
3/4 oz. Suze
Lemon twist

This variant from London bartender Wayne Collins is actually a lot more yellow than white, but let's not nitpick. Suze and Lillet make this Negroni a bit lighter but more herbal. It does diverge from the typical equal parts ratio, since Suze can be a bit overpowering. See my full post on this drink here.

Negroni Bianco 

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Luxardo Bitter Bianco
1 oz. blanc vermouth
Orange or grapefruit twist

This truly white Negroni is known as the Negroni Bianco, and it is my favorite drink on this list. In fact, it's easily one of my favorite drinks of all time. (Someone told me recently that I say that a lot on here. Well, tough. It's true, especially in this case.) It's beautifully light and balanced, still bitter but not overpowering. It would be a perfect introductory Negroni. I wish I'd had one years ago - I might have started liking Negronis sooner.

Special Negroni

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
Orange twist

I have a feeling this recipe exists under other names, but ever since I was served one at Canary Square in Boston, I call it the Special Negroni. This is the ultimate introductory Negroni - milder, sweeter, and a bit more citrusy, but still preserving all the crucial parts of the original.

Toffee Negroni

1 oz. aged rum
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. Amontillado sherry
Grapefruit twist

I had never heard of this Negroni until I saw it in Kara Newman's equal parts cocktail book Shake. Stir. Sip. Created by Lynette Marrero, it has a deep toffee sweetness with just the right amount of bitterness.

Deconstructed Negroni

1 oz. gin
3/4 oz. dry vermouth
Dehydrated Campari
Orange twist

This one is a bit more of a novelty than a go-to recipe, but it seemed like I ought to include it. A bartender at Roosevelt in Denver told me how they dehydrated Campari and used it to serve a colorless Negroni with a Campari rim. I tried it at home and was pretty pleased with the result. See how to make it here.

Boulevardier

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth

This is another drink that definitely goes on my list of all-time favorites. I find the juniper notes of gin one of the more polarizing things about a Negroni, and subbing in bourbon makes a smoother drink that's more akin to a Manhattan. Say what you will, but I'll order a Boulevardier over a Negroni any day. See my original post on the Boulevardier (from before I developed my undying love for this cocktail) here.

Old Pal

1 oz. rye
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. dry vermouth
Orange twist

A close relative of the Boulevardier, the Old Pal is an even lighter cocktail that uses dry vermouth instead of sweet. You can take it one step further and try a Pen Pal, which additionally swaps the Campari for Aperol.

I've seen a ton of other interesting Negroni variations this week... what's your favorite?

A Dinner Party with Fonseca Siroco

Ever since the weather has gotten warmer, I've been looking forward to enjoying dinners on our porch and in our backyard. Usually it's just my husband and I taking advantage of these springtime evenings, but I've always thought an outdoor party with friends would be a lot of fun. So when I was invited to host a dinner party with cocktails made with the Fonseca Siroco White Port, I jumped at the chance to throw the backyard soiree I'd always wanted. I had big plans: white tablecloths, candles, cafe lights, flowers, the works.

Then it rained.

Looking on the bright side, at least this meant we didn't need to carry all our food and supplies down three flights of stairs. It did mean a bit of frantic apartment cleaning and shoving baby gear into closets. But that evening, our friends braved the weather and joined us for a beautiful dinner party with Portuguese food, cocktails, and plenty of Fonseca Siroco.



Let's quickly talk about Port, since it's not something I've used in any recipes on the blog yet. Port is a fortified wine made in the Douro Valley of Portugal. Fortified means that a distilled spirit has been added to the wine, which increases its alcohol content, extends its shelf life and affects its flavor. Other common fortified wines are vermouth, sherry and Madeira. Fonseca is one of the most widely available brands of Port, and their products are consistently very high quality.

When you think of Port, you probably picture a red Port like a tawny or ruby port, which are quite sweet and typically enjoyed after a meal. But white Port like the Fonseca Siroco is generally quite dry. Fonseca Siroco is crisp, fruity, and bright, perfect as an aperitif or with a meal. It's also fantastic in cocktails. The simplest option is just to mix it with tonic water and serve it with a slice of lemon, as it is commonly served in Portugal. Using it instead of vermouth is another easy way to work it into some of your favorite recipes.



For my Port 'n' Party, I made two cocktails with the Fonseca Siroco that I batched ahead of time so I wouldn't be mixing while my guests were here. The first was a simple spritz made with white Port, Aperol, club soda, and an orange slice. Bright, citrusy and just a bit bitter, it made a great pairing for appetizers. For the second cocktail, I wanted to make something more spirit-forward but still appropriate for spring, so I made a martini with gin, white Port, St. Germain, and chamomile citrus bitters. I absolutely love this one - it's just the kind of cocktail I enjoy sipping on. The St. Germain lends this drink a bit of floral sweetness, but it's still dry enough to have before dinner. We also made some white Port and tonics. The recipes for all three cocktails are below!



For dinner, we had Arroz de Tamboril, a rice stew made with monkfish and shrimp that reminded me a lot of the Shrimp Creole we make at home in Louisiana. It's easy to prepare and great for a crowd. Dessert was Serradura, a spectacularly simple combo of sweetened whipped cream and shortbread cookie crumbs. Both recipes came from The Girl Loves to Eat. Our friend Chris of Socktails also brought Pasteis de Nata, which are amazing Portuguese custard tarts. We had plenty of Fonseca Siroco with dinner, and it paired very nicely with the seafood. It had been a long time since we had hosted a party like this one, and we really enjoyed the excuse to get together with friends, even if it was indoors! Maybe a garden party will have to happen later on in the summer. There will definitely be Port cocktails involved.

White Port and Tonic

1 1/2 oz. Fonseca Siroco White Port

3 oz. tonic water

Build in a glass over ice, stir gently, and garnish with a lemon slice.

Porto Spritz

1 oz. Fonseca Siroco White Port
3/4 oz. Aperol
1 oz. club soda

Combine Port and Aperol in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube. Top with club soda and stir gently. Garnish with an orange slice.

Lisbon Martini

2 oz. gin (GrandTen Wire Works)
1 oz. Fonseca Siroco White Port
1/2 oz. St. Germain
1 dash Bittermen's Boston Bittahs

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a coupe. Twist a lemon peel over the cocktail, rub it along the sides of the glass, and discard. Garnish with chamomile flowers.

This post was made in partnership with Fonseca Port. All recipes and opinions are my own.

Naked & Famous

Equal parts cocktails can be a lot of fun. They're incredibly easy to make and remember - all you need to know is the ingredients, and you're good to go. Some of the most iconic cocktails are made in equal parts: the Negroni, the Brandy Alexander, the Corpse Reviver #2... the list goes on. Equal parts cocktails are having a bit of a moment thanks to Kara Newman's recent book Shake. Stir. Sip., a compendium of cocktails made in equal parts from the classics to newer recipes.

It's tricky to find ingredients that harmonize together in equal parts, especially when you get up to four or five in a drink. And yet when it works, it's magic. Some of my all-time favorite cocktails are equal-parts drinks, like the Last Word and the Paper Plane. So I was bound to love the Naked & Famous, a mashup of the two made deliciously smoky with the addition of mezcal. This is a recipe for the all-time favorites list. If you haven't tried it, you definitely should. Smoky and citrusy, it's deliciously complex and perfectly balanced. It's amazing what equal parts can do.

History: The Naked & Famous was created by Joaquín Simó at Death & Company in New York in 2011. In the book he writes: This cocktail is the bastard child born out of an illicit Oaxacan love affair between the classic Last Word and the Paper Plane. Aptly put.

Naked & Famous

3/4 oz. mezcal
3/4 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
3/4 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass. No garnish.

Recipe from Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails.

Bottle Buy: Amaro Nonino

A few months ago, I wrote about an amazing meal I had with some friends at Gramercy Tavern in New York. After dessert, our waitress recommended a couple of amari for us to taste. She brought out Amaro Averna and Amaro Nonino. Everyone else at the table seemed to prefer the Averna, but I liked the Nonino better. When I saw the price difference between them, however ($30 vs. $50), I made the Averna my first amaro purchase. But I suppose I was just delaying the inevitable - I finally bought a bottle of Nonino, and I think it was well worth the money. Its flavor is just beautiful. It's light and sweet and nutty, with flavors of vanilla, caramel, spices, and a bit of anise. I already snuck it into one cocktail, the European Vagrant, and I've got many more to come.

Amaro Nonino (officially Amaro Nonino Quintessentia) is made in Friuli in northeastern Italy. The Nonino distillery was founded there in 1897 by Orazio Nonino, who produced grappa, an Italian grape liqueur. Though the family has continued to produce grappa ever since, I was surprised to find out that Nonino is a fairly new product, born in 1992. It is made from an aged grape distillate infused with a number of herbs and spices including gentian root, saffron, bitter orange, licorice, rhubarb, tamarind, sweet orange, and carmelized sugar. It's traditionally served at room temperature after a meal as a digestif, but it can also make a nice aperitif when served on the rocks or in a cocktail. It's easily one of my favorite bottles in my bar.

Amaro Nonino

Price: $50
Alcohol Content: 35%
Popular Cocktails: Paper Plane, served up as a digestif

The Paper Plane is one of the better-known drinks that contains Amaro Nonino. Like the Last Word, it's an equal-parts cocktail with four ingredients: bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice. It's sour and tart, with a subtly bitter aftertaste. Nuttiness from the Nonino, bright citrus from the Aperol, and rich bourbon tie it all together. It's lighter and more refreshing than you would expect from its ingredients.

If you don't have Amaro Nonino and aren't ready to take the plunge (do it!), you could definitely try this recipe with other amari and see how it turns out. I've also seen a version that uses Campari instead of Aperol. There's definitely room to play around, but it's hard to beat the original.

History: The Paper Plane was created by Sam Ross at Little Branch in New York City. A former bartender at the famous Milk & Honey, Ross opened Attaboy with Michael McIlroy in the bar’s old space. He also invented the well-known Penicillin cocktail, so he’s kind of a big deal.

As I mentioned last week, I got to spend the weekend before Thanksgiving in New York City, crossing some amazing cocktail bars off my bucket list. One of these – my favorite, in fact – was Attaboy. I vaguely knew that Sam Ross owned the bar, but it didn’t occur to me to find out what he looked like or anything; for some reason I assumed that the big-name guys who own these bars never actually step behind them anymore. So when our bearded Australian bartender introduced himself as “Sam,” I just smiled and nodded and complimented the drinks. It was literally 48 hours later that the wayward neurons in my brain (no doubt a bit fried by the weekend of barhopping) made the connection, and I facepalmed pretty hard. No wonder the drinks were so perfect. Sam, on the off-chance you read this, thanks for a lovely time.

As for the Paper Plane, Ross named it after M.I.A.'s song Paper Planes, which he was listening to while he worked on the recipe.

Paper Plane

1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. Amaro Nonino
1 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass. No garnish. Or get cute and fold a teeny tiny paper plane to hang on the glass.

Recipe adapted from Liquor.com.

Pen Pal

A friend of mine recently found out about this blog and asked me for the address. A few minutes later, I received a text from him: 

OMG. You don't like Negronis?!

Oh, the shame. Fifty-odd recipes up here, and of course a real cocktail lover goes straight for the Negroni. Let me be clear: I want to like the Negroni. There seems to be a consensus that it's one of the really great cocktails. But I just don't enjoy them.

In order to make up for this obvious character deficit, I've hunted down a number of recipes that are similar to the Negroni that I still really like. I introduced two of them back in April: the Boulevardier and the Old Pal. Like the Negroni, they follow a basic formula: gin or whiskey, sweet or dry vermouth, and Campari. 

Today I'm adding one more to the list, and another variation to the formula. The Pen Pal is closest to the Old Pal, but it increases the proportion of rye and swaps out the Campari for Aperol, its sweeter, more citrusy cousin. It's probably my favorite of the four. If you share with me the terrible shame of not enjoying Negronis, the Pen Pal might be for you.

History: The Pen Pal was invented at Barmini in Washington, D.C. 

Pen Pal

1 1/2 oz. rye

3/4 oz. dry vermouth

3/4 oz. Aperol

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon peel. Don't forget to write home about it.

Recipe from Punch.

Earthbound

This is another one of my favorite cocktails, and probably my favorite tequila cocktail. It tastes like a more sophisticated Margarita. The honey simple syrup gives it depth, and the Aperol adds a bitterness that really compliments the tequila. There's not much else to say, except: try it!

History: You don't have to go back too far for this one; it was invented at The Independent in Somerville, MA.

Earthbound

1 1/2 oz. tequila blanco
1 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. honey simple syrup
3/4 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients with ice in a shaker. Shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Recipe from Cocktail Virgin Slut

Victoria & Albert

While I was away, I missed the roundup of the May Mixology Monday recipes. Here it is, over at CocktailVirgin. As I predicted, my Cuauhtémoc was not the only Mexican-themed Manhattan recipe, though it was the only one that used tequila; Chris at ABarAbove created the rum-based Teotihuacan. Another one I'm looking forward to trying is Rated R Cocktails' Chinatown Moll. Well, to be honest, I'd try them all if I had the ingredients. I hope I have time to come up with something for MXMO XCVII, because I love the idea of working with local ingredients.

Today's recipe is one of my mom's favorite cocktails. My parents live near a location of New Orleans' wonderful Martin Wine Cellar, and periodically come home from tastings or shopping trips with cocktail recipes. My mom made this one and was instantly wowed. And I can see why. It's bright, floral, fragrant, and just the tiniest bit bitter. It's a lovely cocktail.

The original recipe called for only 1 oz. of grapefruit juice, but I felt the drink was too sweet and unbalanced. Increasing it to 1 1/2 really helped, in my opinion. This is also only the second vodka cocktail I've featured on this blog; I already mentioned that I'm not really a big fan of vodka in general. Even as I drank my Victoria & Albert, I couldn't help but wonder what it would taste like with some gin instead.

So, vodka lovers... can you recommend a vodka and/or a cocktail that might change my mind?

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on their wedding day.

History: This recipe comes from a Square One vodka handout titled "Cocktails for Italian Cuisine," and doesn't appear to exist anywhere else. There's a version of the handout on the Square One website, but it doesn't have the Victoria & Albert on it.

The namesake for the drink is clearly the "it" couple of the 1840's and 50's, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. They had a very romantic relationship, and Victoria was heartbroken when Albert died of typhoid fever at age 42, after 21 years of marriage. Victoria wore black for the rest of her long life, and she had the servants lay out Albert's clothes for the next day every evening until she died. Their relationship is depicted in the recent movie The Young Victoria, with Emily Blunt as the queen and Rupert Friend as Prince Albert. Perhaps this is a fitting inspiration for a cocktail that is very sweet, with just a touch of bitterness at the end.

Victoria & Albert

2 oz. vodka

1 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice

1/2 oz. Aperol

1/2 oz. simple syrup (or less)

4 basil leaves

Put basil leaves at the bottom of a shaker and muddle until bruised. Add remaining ingredients and ice. Shake until very cold. Double-strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a grapefruit twist and a basil leaf.

Recipe adapted from Square One Vodka.

Bottle Buy: Mezcal

Mezcal is currently one of my favorite spirits. Just about every cocktail bar you go to will have a mezcal cocktail on the menu these days, and I can rarely resist trying them. Bartenders are dishing out everything from Old Fashioneds to Last Words with mezcal in place of the usual main ingredient. When I was in Denver last week, I went to the fabulous Green Russell and had their Oaxacan Velvet: mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, lime juice, strawberry balsamic syrup, and cava (they actually used Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal, which is bit unique). Champagne cocktail + mezcal = GarnishGirl heaven.

You may remember from my post on tequila that mezcal is not a type of tequila; it's actually the other way around. Mezcal is a word for any spirit made from agave. Tequila is specifically made from blue agave (Agave tequiliana), whereas mezcal is made from a number of different species and varieties that can even be mixed within a single bottle. The most common is the Oaxacan variety called Espadin, Agave angustifolia. In addition to these different varieties, mezcal also comes in the same four age categories as tequila (blanco/plata, reposado, anejo, super anejo), except that the unaged or barely-aged blanco or plata variety is referred to as joven ("young").

Mezcal is also the stuff that sometimes has a worm in the bottle. Actually, please forgive a biologist for geeking on you for a moment: it's not actually a worm, but a larva. And there are two different species that are commonly used, white and red. The white "worm" is a larva of Aegiale hesperiaris, a butterfly known as the Tequila Giant Skipper, and the red is a larva of Comadia redtenbacheri, a moth without any common name I can find - as a larva, it's known as the Agave Redworm. (That's probably as many scientific names as I'll ever be able to fit into a post about liquor.) Anyway, both of these species are actually pests that infect the Maguey plant, and putting them in mezcal is not some long-time Mexican tradition. It was actually started as a marketing ploy, and only used by makers of cheap, bad mezcal. If you ever see a bottle with a worm in it, don't waste your money.

The taste of Mezcal is intense and smoky. It's kind of like drinking a cigar. Every time I have some, I'm reminded of an episode from the first season of New Girl in which Jake Johnson visits the study of a character played by Dylan McDermott and says: "It smells like leather, and Teddy Roosevelt, and wistfulness. It smells like Shakespeare, if Shakespeare were a damn cowboy. And a hawk's nest, and boat fuel, and cigars... man stuff." This is exactly how mezcal tastes.

If this description appeals to you, then you probably don't need much more convincing that a bottle of mezcal is a worthy addition to your bar. If you're still a bit skeptical, it's worth trying a mezcal cocktail next time you get a chance. Some of my favorite cocktails that use it - like the one below - pair it with enough citrus and sweetness that the smoky taste is far from overwhelming. But it adds incredible dimensionality to a cocktail. The brand I currently have is Fidencio, but Del Maguey is also very good and is cheaper. Another I see on a lot of menus is Sombra.

Mezcal

Price: $30 and up
Alcohol Content: Around 45%
Popular Cocktails: My current favorites include the Division Bell, Maximilian Affair, and Maguey Sour.

I have trouble choosing a favorite mezcal cocktail, but this one ought to be a pretty good crowd pleaser and introduction to the spirit.

History: The Division Bell was created by Phil Ward for Mayahuel in Manhattan. It was named after the Pink Floyd album he was listening to at the time.

Division Bell

1 oz. mezcal
3/4 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur

Combine ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a grapefruit twist if you have one - it really brings out the grapefruit notes in the cocktail. If not, a lemon twist will do.

Recipe from cocktail virgin slut.

Bottle Buy: Campari and Aperol

The best way to build a home bar is to slowly accumulate new ingredients. When you're first starting out, you want to make sure you choose things that will be versatile and show up in a lot of cocktail recipes. The first three bottles I recommend are St. Germain, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, and Campari or Aperol. I'll talk about all of these in the next few weeks.

Campari and Aperol are both herbal Italian aperitifs, meaning they are meant to be consumed before a meal. Their flavor is bitter and herbal. Some might consider it an acquired taste. If you're apprehensive about the bitter flavor, you might try Aperol first; it's slightly sweeter and has strong citrus notes. Campari also has a higher alcohol content (25% vs. 11%). Because of these differences, which one you use can significantly change the taste of a recipe. So they aren't really interchangeable. But purchasing either one can add a lot of cocktails to your repertoire.

History: Campari was invented in 1860 by Gaspare Campari, who mixed up flavored cordials in the basement of his Milan bar, Caffe Campari. The mix of herbs that give it its bitter flavor is a trade secret. Gaspare's son came up with the idea of mixing Campari with soda in 1932. Aperol was invented in 1919 by two brothers, Luigi and Silvio Barbieri, in Padova. They specifically kept its alcohol content low and advertised it as a healthier alternative to other spirits. Campari acquired Aperol in 2003, so these one-time competitors are now on the same team. Their manufacturers insist that both have remained faithful to their original recipes, which are regarded as trade secrets.

Campari

Price: $30

Alcohol Content: 25%

Popular Cocktails: Campari & Soda, Negroni, Americano

Aperol

Price: $22

Alcohol Content: 11%

Popular Cocktails: Aperol Spritz

The two cocktails here are basic drinks meant to showcase the flavor of these two liqueurs. They are so classic, in fact, that both are featured on the backs of their respective bottles. I love drinking Campari with club soda and an orange slice, a popular before-dinner drink in Italy. When I tried the same cocktail with Aperol instead, it just wasn't right. This may be why an Aperol Spritz recommends adding sparkling wine to the mix, for a balanced, just-sweet-enough aperitif that seemed more popular than its cousin when I visited other parts of Europe.

Campari + Soda

1 1/2 oz. Campari

3 oz. club soda

Orange slice

Pour Campari into a rocks glass. Add ice and top with soda. Twist an orange slice into the drink and stir. Picture yourself in an open-air bar in Venice.

Aperol Spritz

3 oz. sparkling wine

2 oz. Aperol

1 oz. club soda

Orange slice

Combine all ingredients in a rocks glass or wine glass. Add ice and gently stir. Garnish with the orange slice. Picture yourself in an open-air bar in Vienna.