I first got the idea to make an Americano today from a great site called the Amateur Mixologist. Because that’s basically what I am, I like this guy’s site a lot. He has managed to write about a lot of drinks in the past year, and I admire him for that. His commentary’s usually pretty good, too. I recommend it.

He has a post about Campari, and, because I have recently acquired my first bottle of this stuff, I figured I should try it. I read his blog and looked at his pictures and made the drink. I took an old fashioned glass full of ice, poured

• 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 1 1/2 oz Campari

and then I only had room for about a half an ounce of soda on top. Not nearly enough. The Amateur Mixologist calls for 1 1/2 oz of soda if I’m using 1 1/2 of the other stuff. I guess I should have used only 1 oz of each. Damn it. A bit too bitter, not enough fizz. In the mouth, it tastes like cool water, and then you swallow and you notice the cinnamon and sweetness, and then the bitter kicks in in the back of the throat long after you’ve swallowed. And that bitterness stays with you, too. It’s not bad, even with my mistake.

After that, I remembered seeing the same name in my Dale DeGroff books, so I turned to The Craft of the Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Master Bartender, with 500 Recipes, and it was there. Then I turned to The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks, and it was there, too. Heck, I looked in my other books, and it was everywhere! This drink is famous, and I had never had it before. I had heard of it, sure, like the Negroni, but I had not tried it before.

How is that possible?!?

After remaking it with 3 oz of soda, it was a lot better. Still a bit too bitter for me, but excellent nonetheless. If I had only had one of them, I would have been impressed, but after two, I was ready for something else on my palate.

Still, I really like these bitter drinks. They’re just not for drinking several in a row.