Hi all,

Grappa is a very strong liquor.

It is unlikely to be served as an aperitif.

The closest I have been able to come would be a Corsican Vermouth (Cap Corse), flavored with quinine - but it is red.

Grappa is typically served after (a meal) as well.

Grappa has a taste that stays the same... it would not fit the description of having a "bitter" aftertaste imo. Also as already mentinoed it would not be served before a meal.

Maybe it was spulatum?

Since you stated it was colorless, I would say it was Grappa. Grappa can be served as an aperitivo; it is also served in coffee called cornetto or "corrected" coffee.

Thanks for all the guesses. I've never had grappa. Maybe I will have to try it to see if that was it. I don't know why I want to know what the drink was, since I disliked it so much. I suppose so I won't ever make the mistake of ordering it.

It was served at the Il Nido restaurant in Sorrento. I looked at their website and it does not mention drinks, just the food (which is excellent, by the way).

The drink you had was a Sanpellegrino Bitter. I had a friend to ask at the hotel.

So the tap water guess wasn't far off ! LOL.

Campari's red color is from cochineal, an expensive, bright red dye. The dye comes from an insect found in Mexico and South America.

By the way, the dye is used in many foods, cosmetics, and to color fabrics.

Thank you cigalechanta!

I have never heard of San Pellegrino Bitter. It was definitely bitter though!

Thanks Rufus, I couldn't remember the name of the insect. I understand it is also used in red colored lipsticks.
I am glad I enjoyed Campari for decades until I learned this bit of information or I probably would never have tried it, lol.

It's NOT grappa!! Nothing in the description (sweet turning bitter) is anything even close to what grappa tastes like... now if someone was talking about lighter fluid...
;-)

I like Compari, even knowing about the insect coloring, but I often think the Italians are secretly laughing as we praise most Italian aperitifs, which frequently make aftershave seem palatable.

Hmmm, I don't know, must of my friends in Italy enjoy Campari as well as Limoncello, grappa (good grappa) Frenet Bianco (sp?) etc.

The apertif was San pellegrino Bitter. The Campari and other drinks with red coloring do use the insects' properties but lots of other things do too that you are unaware of, as pointed out your lipsticks rouges, fabrics but they are beginning to use other synthetics as we have usurped the land and make these insects extint in time.

I never knew that insects produced the famous Red Dye #40.... ;-)

SanPell Bitter is available here in the US. Oddly enough, I was looking at a package of 6 or 8 8-oz. bottles of it just yesterday. The ingredients were carbonated water, sugar, "flavors," and red dye #40. There might have been one or two other ingredient like salt or something.

The red dye obtained from these beetles are also used for the pink coloring in Good 'n Plenty.

I no longer eat the pink ones.

Seetheworld, I wish you didn't tell us that. Oh,well, live and learn.

Anissete is usually served after the meal and often with or in coffee or espresso. It is not bitter but is strong in flavor. I have been drinking it since I was a child - imagine that! Served after all our evening meals and even the children were given a thimble sized glass of it!

Mimi, thanks for solving the mystery.

Anisette - I can drink it, but I can't spell it!