Drink · 1 min · Amounts not specified
Campari soda
The simplest bitter drink there is, and the one that teaches you whether you actually like Campari.
The sheet · 1 small glass · 1 min
easyWhy tonight. The simplest bitter drink there is, and the one that teaches you whether you actually like Campari.
What it needs
Nothing confirmed on your shelf yet — this list is the whole ask.
- campari
- soda
Good if you have them, fine if you do not: orange.
Method
- 2 oz Campari over ice, topped with soda. That is all of it.
- A small glass rather than a tall one. This is meant to be bitter and short, and lengthening it into a highball washes it out entirely.
- Orange slice squeezed and dropped in.
- Bottled and pre-mixed in Italy for eighty years, which tells you how little it needs from whoever is making it.
Technique coach
What the method is trying to make happen
Sequence, correction, heat and texture, equipment workarounds, scaling, and component reuse are available with this cook sheet.
An educational pour, not a reprint of a licensed spec. No allergen or alcohol-safety claim.
Cook or pour it, then edit the shelf if you emptied a bottle or used the last of something.
Going wrong while you cook it? Say what it is doing and the triage will tell you what is happening, the smallest move, and the instinct to resist.
Watch the technique behind this one
Third-party video. Opens in a new tab — nothing is embedded and nothing is fetched from a video platform until you click.
Reviewed video matched to this method, not to the cuisine. Opens in a new tab.
- Cocktail structureHow to make a Whiskey HighballA Bar AboveThe pour that keeps the bubbles. A highball is mostly a handling problem.Link checked 2026-09-08
- Produce prepCitrus SupremeEpicuriousCutting the pith and membrane away so the segments come out clean — the prep behind every citrus salad.Link checked 2026-09-08
Why each of these is on the list
What the ingredients are actually doing
- campari
- Bitter, sweet and red, and it is not shy.
- soda
- Carbonation is a texture and it is the first thing you lose.
Missing one of them? The substitutions are written against those jobs rather than against a chart, so they say what each replacement costs this dish in particular.
Cooks from the same box
If you bought for this, you can already make these
Shares campari, soda
Americano
Campari, vermouth and soda over ice — the Negroni before gin was added, and about half the strength.
Shares soda
Vodka soda
The cleanest possible long drink, which means there is nowhere for a rough vodka to hide. Lots of ice, fresh soda, a real squeeze of citrus.
Shares soda
Amaro highball
Amaro and soda over ice, which is what Italy drinks after dinner and what most people should drink instead of a third glass of wine.
Shares soda
Amaro spritz
Amaro, sparkling wine and soda. Darker and more bitter than an Aperol spritz, and the one to make when the spritz has gone too sweet.
Next
Cook it, then tell the shelf what you used.
The ranking is only as honest as the shelf behind it. Empty the cream, and everything that leaned on cream should stop being offered.