New Formula Campari

[NancyH]

In an interesting twist, I stopped at the liquor store for something non-Campari related, but thought I would check out which version is currently being sold in Akron, OH.

Three interesting things:

1) Made with Carmine

2) Has the word Bitters on the label instead of Aperitivo

3) Importers are Skyy

I checked the alcohol percentage and it was 48 proof.

There were three bottles left on the shelf.

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Tino - get them to the Velvet Tango Room ASAP!

[tino27]

In an interesting twist, I stopped at the liquor store for something non-Campari related, but thought I would check out which version is currently being sold in Akron, OH.

Three interesting things:

1) Made with Carmine

2) Has the word Bitters on the label instead of Aperitivo

3) Importers are Skyy

I checked the alcohol percentage and it was 48 proof.

There were three bottles left on the shelf.

←

Tino - get them to the Velvet Tango Room ASAP!

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Bolognium -- be happy to pick them up for you if you'd like. Just say the word. They are priced at retail though ($24 something).

Tino

[bolognium]

Yes! YES YES YES!!! email me for specifics please.

Edited March 1, 2008 by bolognium (log)

[J_Ozzy]

Quick update: after an informal store survey in SW Calgary, there are two versions available.

One version listing "Alcohol, Aromatic Herbs and Carmine" as ingredients, and another version listing several herbs (such as Amaranth), and two artificial dyes.

[Tiare]

The only thing to do is to stock up...

[IlCuoco]

I confess, I was skeptical that the move away from carmine would really make all that much difference but I must confess, I was just in the local liquor store and, after reading this thread I took a walk over to the Campari on the shelves; one old recipe, the rest new and I could tell that even before looking at the ingredients because the color was noticeably different (old was much darker). I even pulled the "dark"bottle and a lighter one before looking at the back. I can't speak to taste (the bottle at home is the "old style" so I have nothing to compare it to) but the colors are NOT the same...

(for the record, bought the last old recipe bottle just to have a spare around).

[JAZ]

Last night we did a blind taste test of the old formula and the new. The "old" bottle was purchased about 2.5 years ago, the "new" bottle about 6 months ago. Both were opened with 1/3 to 2/3 of the contents gone. (We also tasted Luxardo's Bitter, for comparison's sake.)

The results? We noticed a very slight difference in the finish, but probably nothing that could be detected in a cocktail. The color of the new was slightly more orange, and that was the extent of the difference.

[sygyzy]

Unfortunately, I only got interested in Campari a few weeks ago adn when I went to BevMo in LA this past weekend to pick it up, all they had left was the artificially flavored one. I am all about authenticity but I doubt I'll put too much effort into hunting down a "legit" bottle.

[thirtyoneknots]

Unfortunately, I only got interested in Campari a few weeks ago adn when I went to BevMo in LA this past weekend to pick it up, all they had left was the artificially flavored one. I am all about authenticity but I doubt I'll put too much effort into hunting down a "legit" bottle.

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As far as anyone knows, it isn't artificially flavored, only artifically colored. The source of the difference in flavor profile has not been conclusively determined.

[tim]

Hi,

I didn't find the "old" Compari untill I went to an "old" liquor store. It was nice that they also had the "old" Compari price of $25 for a LITER.

Nice!

Tim

[sygyzy]

Unfortunately, I only got interested in Campari a few weeks ago adn when I went to BevMo in LA this past weekend to pick it up, all they had left was the artificially flavored one. I am all about authenticity but I doubt I'll put too much effort into hunting down a "legit" bottle.

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As far as anyone knows, it isn't artificially flavored, only artifically colored. The source of the difference in flavor profile has not been conclusively determined.

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Hi Andy,

Thank you for pointing that out.

[Shalmanese]

I just checked my bottle and it's the bug juice. I got it in December 2007 in San Francisco, some sketchy liquor store in the tenderloin. If you're in hunt of the old campari, maybe go to some liquor stores where the clientele aren't likely to be buying campari all that often.

[NancyH]

Tino delivered his three bottles of Bug Juice to Cleveland's Velvet Tango Room last night, and invited a few friends to join in for a cocktail. Naturally, we had to do a Campari Tasting.

Bob and I did it blind - we didn't know which was which. Moreover, neither of us has ever tasted naked Campari before (and only rarely in drinks). They looked the same.

But there was no doubt which taste (and texture - we noticed a distinct difference in the mouthfeel of the two samples) we both preferred - Original Campari with the Carmine. So there. So sad.

We posted a few pix of some new VTR cocktails here and here, BTW. And they are delicious!!

[tikibars]

I had a Negroni at VTR on Tuesday, and although it used the new Campari - I asked - it was also just about the best Negroni I have had.

Nice job Jennifer!

[Dave the Cook]

As of last Friday, Vieux Carre Wine & Spirits (in the French Quarter of New Orleans) had at least ten bottles of the old formula on the shelf.

[TAPrice]

As of last Friday, Vieux Carre Wine & Spirits (in the French Quarter of New Orleans) had at least ten bottles of the old formula on the shelf.

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Wow. Good find. I've got to buy a bottle before the Tales of the Cocktail crowd cleans them out.

[lancastermike]

I am a late comer to this topic. Just yesterday I bought a bottle of Campari and it was the new stuff with the artificial color. My bottle at home which was damn near empty was the old kind. I had enough left to do a taste test.

The new and old taste a little different to me when sampled neat. But not to any degree. And I would be more than willing to accept the Kinsey concept that the age of my open bottle, which certainly is into the years, would cause this.

In a Negroni, it would take a far more educated pallet than mine to taste any difference. I did not try a side by side with just soda as I did not have enough left.

I use Campari in cocktails, mostly Negroni's and I just don't think the difference, whatever the cause, is discernible.

[lostmyshape]

i just did the same think about a week ago. to me, the differences were as startling as those who've commented above. the old stuff was darker in color and way more interesting and complex. the new stuff was "thinner" and almost one-note, with both the bitterness and sweetness coming upfront on the tip of the tongue and then vanishing. i certainly could tell the difference side-by-side in a drink (negroni) also. i was as disappointed and shocked as others, even though the new campari still makes a fine drink.

however, i also could probably accept the open bottle as the culprit theory, rather than a change in formula. my old bottle has been on the shelf, less than 1/3 full for over a year. evaporation, oxidation, etc could be blamed, i guess, even for an improvement.

i guess we'll be able to test this theory in a few years when our current "new formula" bottles have sat on the shelf, draining slowly, and hopefully taking on these complex flavors we're noting.

those who have found the older bottles recently on the shelves -- how does a newly opened bottle of the old formula compare to a newly opened bottle of the new formula?

Edited June 2, 2008 by lostmyshape (log)

[tino27]

To try and debunk the "open bottle" theory, when I bought the remaining bottles of "old" Campari (unopened, obviously) at my Akron location, we did a direct comparison with a freshly opened bottle of each at the Velvet Tango Room. As NancyH mentioned upthread, the difference was immediate and remarkable.

As I am not a Campari drinker, I was amazed to find the exact same complexity, finish, and mouth feel differences that other, more seasoned Campari lovers found.

[Beebs]

I am a late comer to this topic. Just yesterday I bought a bottle of Campari and it was the new stuff with the artificial color.  My bottle at home which was damn near empty was the old kind. I had enough left to do a taste test.

The new and old taste a little different to me when sampled neat. But not to any degree. And I would be more than willing to accept the Kinsey concept that the age  of my open bottle, which certainly is into the years, would cause this.

In a Negroni, it would take a far more educated pallet than mine to taste any difference. I did not try a side by side with just soda as I did not have enough left.

I use Campari in cocktails, mostly Negroni's and I just don't think the difference, whatever the cause, is discernible.

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I'm with you on this one. I can tell that they taste different when they're side by side, neat. I've also tried it in a Campari & soda, and a Jasmine, but my palate's definately not discerning enough to taste a significant difference mixed in a cocktail. Although the old formula cocktails tasted a bit richer to me. Haven't tried it in a Negroni yet, though.

My old formula bottle is around 6-8 months old, and I opened the new formula bottle about 4 months ago.

That being said, Campari & soda is one of my favourite drinks, and it is a pity they've decided to change it....

[Tiare]

As I am not a Campari drinker, I was amazed to find the exact same complexity, finish, and mouth feel differences that other, more seasoned Campari lovers found.

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I`m a Campari drinker since some 20 years or so and i`m quite disturbed by this change. I can only find the new watery version now and my old is long gone..very frustrating. The new one makes a "ok" drink, but the old one..

Maybe i can find some from Germany and if i do i would like to store them but they can`t be stored too long i suppose..so i wonder how long could they be stored?

[The Drinkist]

I'm a Campari fan, so this thread has led me to my first post. My local keeps Campari in stock essentially for me and recently got in one of the new bottles. I didn't realize the change at the time but found my Campari and soda lacked a little punch. At the time, I attributed it either to a new bartender pouring a little less Campari or to my palate being a little off that day or some combination of the two. Now, though, I see the true root cause.

It's certainly plausible, though not I think a dead certainty, that in-bottle aging is reponsible for the difference in taste that people are seeing. On an optimistic note, if so many of us are seeing the new stuff all at once, it undermines the notion that it will take years and years of aging to find out. Clearly the Campari stocks we were drawing on were turning over fairly quickly anyway for the new supply to arrive so quickly. (I know I've been doing my part to control the cochineal population.) So, the complexity may return fairly quickly.

(I realize that doesn't take into account how much time Campari stocks may have spent in storage before being shipped out to local suppliers, but the economics of production and storage would tend to dictate keeping production fairly constant and on-hand, unused supplies low. I am just guessing, but I imagine the production rotates among the various profiles people have mentioned with a reasonably short-term supply of each -- maybe months? -- produced each time. Anybody know about the logistics?)

I have a question, though, for the historians. This topic sent me poking about for Campari information, and I found ad images (pre-1930s) for Campari that didn't depict the characteristic red hue -- the liquid appeared more white. I even found one image showing a red clown holding a red bottle and a white clown holding a white bottle. Does anyone know if there was a distinct "white" Campari product with a different taste at one point or did the company start adding the red coloring sometime around the 1920s? If the latter, then we can hardly say that changing the red coloring makes the thing less authentic. (Well, less historically authentic, anyway. It's clearly less authentically what I've grown to love.)

[slkinsey]

Historically there has been a Campari Bianco. I can't tell if it is still produced, and I've never seen a bottle of it myself. But if you google "campari bianco" you can find cites and images.

[Jmahl]

I buy my Campari here on the "Border" from the duty free shop. The formula is at 28.5% Alc./Vol. with no notation of coloration. The date/manufacture code is "LS/QC29" The bottom of the front label is marked, "Duty Free Market." Is this the "real" stuff?

Good drinking,

Jmahl

[The Drinkist]

Thanks for the info on the Bianco. I'll dig a bit more deeply. It would be surprising if it's still made in much quantity since it would seem to be at odds with Campari's whole Red-based market campaign (which is also ironic in light of the shift in coloring agents), not to mention the fact that nobody ever seems to have seen any.

I'm wondering if this was a separate profile or more of a choose-your-color creme de cacao kind of thing. This seems like the kind of question that would be right of Dr. Cocktail's alley. Maybe we can get some feedback from there?

By the way, for the New Orleans folks: Unless they were holding back, I think I cleaned out the last of the old formula supply at Dorignac's today.