Properly Sauced: 'The One, Two, Three' Cocktail

By Anthony Todd in Food on Sep 17, 2013 4:30PM

Monday night at Double A, we witnessed some dark red magic. That is, we tasted a bunch of cocktails made with Campari. One of our favorite drink ingredients, the bitter Italian spirit can be difficult to mix with if you're not quite sure what's what. Out of a field of seven drinks from last night's Campari cocktail competition, we bring you the big winner.

Bartender Brian Sturges, who works at Drumbar, invented the winning drink: The One, Two, Three. He's a film buff, and the drink is named for a Billy Wilder comedy about a Coca-Cola distributor in West Germany during the Cold War. Fittingly, the cocktail is meant to evoke the taste of cola. It's disturbingly successful at that, though it still maintains the sophistication of Campari. It's one of those drinks that is complicated and delicious, but once you mention "coke" to your guests, they'll all nod knowingly.

The aftermath of the competition.

The field of competitors included drinks made with truffles, all kinds of fruit (grapefruit was a particular favorite), whisky, prosecco, more kinds of bitters than we can remember and lots of other ingredients. The only requirement? The drink had to use Campari as a main ingredient. The competition was run by the Chicago chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild. If you're interested in Campari and want to experiment some more, check out their recipe database.

Sturges won a trip to Portland Cocktail Week, as well as numerous other smaller prizes. The rest of the competitors? They went home with Campari, of course.

The One, Two, Three
By Brian Sturges

1 ounce Campari
.5 ounce Appleton V/X Rum
1.5 ounce Cocchi Americano Rosa
2 dashes Bitter Truth Chocolate Bitters

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass. Stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled Georgian glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.