Laura of Eat Drink Live is hosting this month’s HHDD and she picked the best summer theme possible: Sorbet!

I rarely drink alcohol. And when I do, I drink Campari and Campari only. If I feel thirsty, I drink it mixed with mineral water (which also help release the flavors). If I feel festive, I prefer it with orange juice. And if it is a rather chilly day, nothing warms me up more than a Campari straight up.

For quite a long time, I have been thinking about how it would taste in a sorbet. I am glad I tried. Campari Orange Sorbet is as good as the drink itself – if not better. I topped it with candied orange peel and served on a hot summer night.

All About Campari

Campari originated in Navaro, Italy in 1860. The secret recipe belongs to Gaspare Campari and incorporates over 60 ingredients. While the recipe is confidential, a few of them are known to be orange peel, quinine, rhubarb, ginseng and bark from Cascarilla trees that grow in the Bahamas.

The charming red color (C:27, M:100, Y:100, K:29) of this bitter comes from cochineal dye. The dye is derived from a female cochineal insect, which lives on cacti, feeding on its moisture and nutrients. The insect produces carminic acid, which is extracted from the body and eggs to make the dye. The insects are killed by immersion in hot water or by exposure to sunlight, steam, or the heat of an oven. Each method produces a different color, which results in the varied appearance of commercial cochineal. It takes about 155,000 insects to make one kilogram of cochineal.

Note: Campari ceased using cochineal derived colorant in the vast majority of its worldwide production (including the US) in 2006.