FORTHAVE 'RED' APERITIVO

When I was 16 I went to Egypt for a year as an exchange student, my (Coptic Christian) host family assumed that as an American I drank and so offered me cocktails at events and dinners, and by cocktails I mean a choice of Chivas rocks or Campari and soda. Of course I chose the Campari and soda and there began my life long love of bitter cocktails. Had I known that someday there would be a version of the classic bitter aperitivo that was so aromatic with the perfect balance of bitter and sweet I might have waited to start drinking Campari and soda.