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The Garibaldi cocktail is an Italian drink with only 2 ingredients: Campari and orange juice! It’s a surprisingly balanced combination.
Here’s a unique drink to whip up at home: the Garibaldi cocktail! This Italian cocktail has so much going for it, it’s hard to know where to start. It’s got only two ingredients, which makes it supremely easy to mix up. There’s a little textural little flair with a foamy topping.
The flavor? It comes out balanced and refreshing, with bitter, sweet and tangy notes all intermingling in the perfect sip. From the first drink, I was both surprised, delighted, and ready to make another one. Here’s what to know about this seriously simple drink!
What’s a Garibaldi cocktail?
The Garibaldi is a two-ingredient Italian cocktail made with Campari and orange juice. The drink is named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general who contributed to the unification of Italy back in 1871. The idea is that Campari comes from the North of Italy and oranges come from the South…hence the unification of the North and South occur right in your glass! The drink is an aperativo or aperatif, meant to be drunk before dinner.
You’ll find the Garibaldi on cocktail menus in Italy, and it’s also a famous drink served at the Dante cocktail bar in NYC. The only ingredients you’ll need for a Garibaldi cocktail are:
- Campari
- Fresh squeezed orange juice (see more below)
The orange juice to use
The important part about the orange juice in a Garibaldi: do not even think about using a bottle of purchased OJ here. The magic is in the fresh squeezed orange juice. You can use any type of orange; here are our favorite options:
- Valencia oranges are most classic for the drink. You can also use clementines or satsumas.
- Blood oranges are another great choice. This is what we used here: blood oranges have a beautiful red color which goes well with the bright red Campari. The dark red of the blood orange slice also looks dramatic as a garnish.
How to make the frothy top on a Garibaldi
Here’s the cool thing about the orange juice in a Garibaldi cocktail: it’s blended so that the top forms a frothy foam. It’s almost like a natural version of the classic egg white foam that tops a whiskey sour. The froth was traditionally from the juicer, but you can also use a blender or a few other tools to achieve the same effect. Here are a few tools you can use:
- Blender: Throw your orange juice in the blender and blend until foamy.
- Hand frother: We have a hand frother to froth milk for lattes, and it works like a charm.
- Whisk: You can also whisk it vigorously until you see some froth.
More about Campari
If it’s not already in your liquor cabinet, you should grab a bottle of Campari! It’s a well known spirit that can make all sorts of drinks. Here’s what to know:
- Campari is an Italian bitter with a bright red color. It’s easy to find, most famously used in the Negroni and other classic cocktails like the Americano and Boulevardier.
- What does Campari taste like? It’s tastes bitter, fruity, and spicy all at once. It’s infused with different herbs and fruits, part of a secret recipe.
- Fun fact: Campari was originally colored so brightly red due to a dye made of crushed insects! That’s no longer in the modern recipe, so it shouldn’t deter you from grabbing a bottle.
Step it up: try clear ice!
Want to take your Garibaldi cocktail to the next level? Make with clear ice. It’s an artisan style of ice that’s crystal clear and looks like the type you’d get at a fancy bar. You can cut large chunks and they take this drink to superstar level. All you need is 24 hours and a small cooler! Go to How to Make Clear Ice.
Garibaldi Cocktail (Campari & Orange!)
The Garibaldi cocktail is an Italian drink with only 2 ingredients: Campari and orange juice! It’s a surprisingly balanced combination.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ ounces (3 tablespoons) Campari
- 4 ounces (½ cup) fresh squeezed orange juice (or blood orange juice)
- Garnish: orange wedge (optional)
Instructions
- Squeeze the orange juice. Use an immersion blender, hand frother or whisk to blend the orange juice until it is foamy.
- Add Campari to a highball filled with ice. Top with foamed orange juice and stir gently. Top with an orange wedge.
More Campari cocktails
What else to make with a bottle of Campari? This Italian liqueur stars in lots of famous and unique cocktails. Here are a few more to try:
- The Negroni The is the most famous Campari cocktail: equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth.
- A Negroni Sbagliato is a Negroni with Prosecco, and the Boulevardier cocktail is a Negroni made with bourbon. We like both even better than the original!
- The Campari Spritz is bitter and bubbly, an easy cocktail with 3 ingredients in 3 minutes.
- A Jungle Bird is a tropical rum cocktail with a twist: bitter Campari offsets sweet pineapple juice.
Love this recipe! The combination of Campari and orange is perfect. Definitely trying this at my next dinner party 🍹🍔
Fantastic website thanks 🥰
This is a great cocktail! I love the orange flavor.
Love the Campari and orange.
Love your website, especially the cocktail portion, as I am entering the home mixologist domain for the first time in my long life. I like that you present no only the classic cocktails, but many of their variations as well. Thanks so much!
You are welcome!