The 7 Best Alternatives to Campari for a Negroni, According to Bartenders

For a cocktail with only three ingredients — gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari — there are seemingly infinite ways to craft a Negroni. The classic ratio of 1:1:1 can be tweaked to highlight one component or another. And different brands of gin and vermouth result in wildly divergent expressions of the classic. But what happens when you swap out Campari for a replacement? Is the refreshingly bittersweet classic recognizable? Perhaps its even better. 

“While there are few like-for-like substitutions for Campari, there are many that are good or better,” says Clint Rogers, beverage director of The National in Telluride, Colorado. 

“I always reach for Cappelletti. This is a bright red aperitivo similar to Campari with notes of bitter cinchona bark,” says Rogers. “Unlike Campari, a neutral grain base, Cappelletti is unique in that it is wine-based. I would recommend a build of one and a half ounces gin to one ounce vermouth and one ounce Cappelletti for a spirit-forward, yet smooth Negroni."

Alex Cuper, beverage director of operations of Chicago’s El Che Steakhouse & Bar and Brasero, agrees that substitutions can result in a great range of Negroni variations. 

“I always think it’s fun to tinker with classic cocktails,” says Cuper. “The formula is there, you just plug and play. The Negroni is one of those cocktails that when you understand what each component adds, you can then start to make those substitutions. My personal favorite is messing with the bittering agent (Campari)."

At Brasero, the bar serves a Tropical Negroni that spotlights pineapple flavors. "We use heirloom pineapple amaro in place of Campari," says Cuper. "It still offers the beautiful bitter note, but also reinforces the pineapple freshness from the Bayab Pineapple Gin we use. There are so many cool and artisanal amari out there worth tinkering with.”

Veteran bartender, author, and cocktail expert Dale DeGroff has created his own line of amari.

“[Absinthe expert] Ted Breaux and I released DeGroff Bitter Aperitivo a year and a half ago,” says DeGroff. “The inspiration was 19th century-style aperitivi that were botanically driven without artificial coloring or excessive filtering. The category as it looked and tasted 130 years ago.” 

The bitter aperitivo, using specs created by Breaux, is crafted by master distiller Caitlin Bartlemay at Clear Creek Distillery in Hood River, Oregon.

“The original recipe for the Negroni at the end of the 19th century was equal parts of the Campari bitter aperitivo, gin, and sweet vermouth,” says DeGroff. “Today, production methods at Campari have been adjusted to accommodate the enormous volume of Campari consumed around the world. Actually, a nice problem to have. I am and have always been a fan of Campari, but the recipe for the Negroni has needed alteration to accommodate the sharper attack of the Campari of today. That is, the old 1:1:1 ratio has been altered by most bartenders to half [ounce of] Campari to half [ounce of] sweet vermouth to two [ounces of] gin.”

The character of their bitter aperitivo, however, has allowed DeGroff to revert to the original equal-parts formula for a Negroni. “All the ingredients [are allowed] to speak, he says. And as dilution takes place, the three ingredients come together in a symphony of flavor that is unlike any of the component parts, but a new, pleasing deliciousness.”

However you choose to make your Negronis, whether classic with Campari or a version with a different product swapped in its place, it’s a cocktail with as many variations as there are people who are passionate about it.

Read on for our favorite Campari alternatives in a Negroni.