In this house, Guiseppe Garibaldi is a hero. After all, we have his crucial role in the unification of Italy to thank for this delightful drink. Lost? Let us explain a few things.
The Garibaldi is a delicious two-ingredient cocktail. Made from just Campari and ‘fluffy’ orange juice (see our top tips below), it is – like most things Italian – far more than the sum of its parts. But first, let’s discuss its namesake.
Guiseppe Garibaldi is considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern Italy. The 19th-century general and his volunteer army were hugely instrumental in consolidating the independent states on the Italian peninsula into The Kingdom of Italy in 1861. But what’s that got to do with a cocktail? Two things, actually.
The first is its fiery red colour, which it shares with the uniform of Garibaldi’s followers – the Camicie Rosse, or Redshirts. The second, and arguably the most important, is its ingredients. A newly unified Italy needed something to drink; something that celebrated its new borders, stretching from the northern Alps to the pebbly beaches in the south. Something like Piedmontese Campari and Sicilian oranges, perhaps? Bingo! And who better to name it after than the guy who made it possible?
Garibaldi’s tributary tipple has been served right across Italy since time immemorial (well, since Italy immemorial), but it wasn’t until 2015 that it hit the big time when the warm and convivial hosts at New York City’s famed venue Dante made it their signature drink. If a two-ingredient cocktail seems like a conspicuously inconspicuous signature for the 2019 World’s Best Bar, we don’t know what to tell you. What we can say, however, is that it’s bloody delicious.
A salute, Commentadore Garibaldi!
