Campari: Stars In Our Eyes

This past Monday I helped put together the Campari/USBG Cincinnati regional event for their national Best Campari Aperitivo competition.  I also created the passing cocktail.  The passing cocktails don't generally need to follow the competition rules, so mine involved homemade ingredients while the competitors' did not.

Aperitivos are are liquors/liqueurs/cocktails designed to stimulate the appetite and get your tastebuds working.  To break my cocktail down, Campari is an aperitivo liqueur, anise is a spice that is known to be an appetite stimulant, and prosecco is commonly a first-ordered drink before dinner.  I tried to make this as textbook aperitivo as possible.  I also tried to make it as light as possible, and not use the full ounce of Campari that the competitors were using, as I didn't want to overwhelm anybody's palates before the main show.

I thought the name thoroughly appropriate, as the phrase generally refers to beginnings of many kinds (relationships, business endeavors, etc.), and the use of garnish, and the cocktail's style as a "beginning" before a meal...very multifaceted meaning.

Stars in Our Eyes
Glass:  Champagne Flute
Garnish:  Long twist of blood orange and Star Anise
Method: Shake and Double Strain

Ingredients:
.5 oz Campari
.25 oz Fresh blood orange juice (I used Moro blood oranges)
.5 oz Anise simple syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water, 1 tsp anise seeds)
1/4 tsp Anise seeds

Shake well with ice, double strain into champagne flute, and top with 3-4oz of Brut Prosecco. Garnish with long blood orange twist and star anise.