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LIQUEURS
Campari is one of the bitterest liqueurs on the market and not for the faint hearted. But bartenders love it – it puts the groan into their Negronis.
No longer groaning are the cochineal insects that until 2006 were killed in large numbers to provide the dye that gave the liqueur its deep red character.
Now they use something that can be explained by words that don’t include, dried, crushed and insects, which is a shame for entomophiles but not cochineals, who must be in good spirits. Just not Campari.
The Italian aperitif’s sales have received a boon of late with the comeback of the Negroni, always beloved of bartenders and now their customers too.
The Campari-gin-sweet- vermouth threesome is the second best-selling classic in the world’s best bars this year, while the Americano (be gone gin), was the 39th most popular classic.
It shows – in two-thirds of the 100 bars we polled, Campari was among the top-three best-selling liqueurs. And it’s hard to imagine any of them not having a bottle kicking about somewhere.
Second in the liqueur zoo is Chartreuse, which is made to a secret recipe stewarded by no more than two Carthusian monks at a time.
One would have thought monks could be overpowered and made to talk by a rabble of excitable bartenders, but so far the secret remains under
their robes. But not literally. Supposedly the liqueur is made from 130 herbs, plants and flowers, so frankly, only monks have the time to make the stuff anyway. Let’s hope they keep going because Chartreuse is also the trending liqueur in the world’s best bars.
Aperol, meanwhile, is the stablemate of Campari with the natty advantage of having its own cocktail named after it. The Aperol Spritz isn’t likely to get the trade too excited, other than on busy nights.
But the public like it so much it finished 19th in our poll of best-selling classics. Bartenders aren’t afraid to make use of the liqueur in house creations too, and in about a third of venues it’s among their three best-selling liqueurs.
Other big-brand liqueurs complete the list, not least the old-recipe-book-favourite Cointreau and the modern-recipe-book-favourite St Germain.
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The Best Selling list is based on bottles sold while the Top Trending list refers to on-trend brands that are being requested right now but are not necessarily sold in high volumes.
To find out more about how we carried out the survey and collated the results read How We Did It.
Check out the other lists here:
World Whiskies, Tequila, Gin, US Whiskey, Vodka, Brandy, Rum, Scotch, Bartenders' Choice.
