Campari‘s “Embrace The Bitterness” has taken over Melbourne. Our writer Ashanie was lucky enough to experience the first round of bitterness. This time it was our chance to be introduced to a whole new world of Italian digestives and aperitifs at Nieuw Amsterdam.
Campari‘s knowledgeable brand ambassador enticed us to shake up everything we know about Italian food and drink culture, and see how it can be incorporated into the Australian lifestyle. Here in Melbourne we are spoilt with different cocktails and food options from around the world and our cities Italian heritage is still proud and strong. To make digestive and aperitifs a lot less complicated to think and talk about, we were presented some of Campari’s range on a scale of bitterness. This ranged from the sweet tastes of Aperol to the bitter and deep tastes of Campari and everything in between.
In Australia it was pretty easy for us to adopt Aperol through the Spritz and Campari in our much loved Negroni’s, but Campari has a whole other portfolio of bitters it knows Australians will love just as much with a little embrace of the bitter side!
These three bitters you may not be as familiar with are but are sure to love:
Averna – A delicate and sweet herbal liquor suitable for sipping anytime of the day.
Cynar – Don’t let the Artichoke on the label put you off, it’s delicious and of medium bitterness. We discovered how tasty it can be served neat or as part of a cocktail. It was also fascinating to learn some of the history behind this spirit.
Braulio – which is a delight on its own or can be used in half measurements of red vermouth in a Negroni.
Nieuw Amsterdam was the perfect location for a matched cocktail and food experience. Everything from charcuterie boards to melt in your mouth beef cheeks were paired perfectly together to give us the chance to think differently about these products. We left pretty boozed up but with an eagerness to see how we could pair them at the next cocktail party. Bellissimo!
– Brenton and Tomas
Brenton is a part time bartender & full time trouble maker, follow his shenanigans on Instagram @SoSpinky.
Tomas Zagoda is a filmmaker, writer, coffee addict and tall person who does not play basketball. You can follow him @TomasZagoda.
