There’s more to the two Italian aperitifs than you might think. Our taste in food and drink seems to be getting rather, well, bitter these days. But that’s a good thing, especially when it comes to appreciating the delights of acerbic aperitifs like Aperol and Campari.

When it comes to summertime cocktails, it’s hard to beat a Negroni or Aperol Spritz. Both are decidedly refreshing without being particularly sweet. Traditionally consumed to stimulate the palate before eating, Aperol and Campari have been popular in their native Italy for well over a century.

Yet the bitterness and complexity of these drinks has long prevented them from achieving mainstream popularity in nations like the U.S., which typically favours sweeter beverages.

ORIGIN

Though they are now both owned and produced by the Campari Group, Aperol and Campari were first concocted some 60 years and 150 miles apart. Campari was invented by Signore Campari himself — Gaspare Campari — in Novara, Italy in 1860.

Aperol, meanwhile, didn’t appear on the aperitivo scene until later, in 1919, when it was created by brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri in Padua.

 

COLOUR PROFILES

Aperol and Campari are easy to spot due to their bright colours. While the origins of Aperol’s red-orange hue are intentionally shrouded in mystery, Campari’s radiant bright red used to come from carmine dye, which was derived from crushed cochineal insects. However, Gruppo Campari ceased using carmine in its production in 2006.

FLAVOUR

Both Aperol and Campari are characterised by rich, orange sweetness and bitter herbal undertones. A typical sip starts sweet and slowly changes as you begin to distinguish a near-infinite combination of herb and spice flavours, before finally reaching a persisting, pleasant, bitter finish.

Aperol is, without doubt, the more approachable of the two, like a light, crushable lager tasted next to a craft beer with astronomical IBUs. It is sweeter and fruitier, while Campari is challenging and unapologetically bitter.

COCKTAILS

With a lower alcohol content and softer flavour, Aperol is more commonly found in lighter cocktails, like the ubiquitous summer favourite, the Aperol Spritz. The bigger and bolder Campari, however, confidently holds its own in boozier mixes such as the Negroni.