This One-Ingredient Campari Cocktail Is A Dream For Lazy Hosts

Whether you're pressed for time or just aren't in the mood to host guests, you can still serve luxurious cocktails with minimal equipment and effort. Simply make sure your home bar is stocked with Campari and your freezer is packed with plenty of ice. Find your drink shaker, and if you want to prepare to garnish drinks for a more intentional beverage presentation, have some oranges ready to slice and adorn glasses. Just like that, you'll be ready to welcome friends like a true hospitality professional with a shaken Campari.

Infused with spices and herbs, Campari already has all that is needed for a delicious drink. As Campari is shaken with ice and a bit of gusto, the liqueur is transformed — without needing to add any other ingredients. Served straight, Campari can taste like syrupy medicine, but when chilled, slightly diluted by ice, and shaken with air, the liqueur takes on a lighter, fruitier, and much more drinkable form.

Served as an aperitif, this bold ruby-red Italian beverage can help you get the evening started with minimal effort and little planning. And once your bar is stocked with Campari, you have a slew of cocktails you can try to mix for the next time you have a bit more energy to start creating drinks. Add a splash of seltzer water or champagne for an instant cocktail upgrade, or use the liqueur to give your next breakfast flutes of Bellinis a hit of citrus that is an attractive red in color. 

To garnish a drink made with Campari, serve the shaken liquid with slices of orange, lemon garnish, or a cocktail stick piercing cherries. To make up for your lack of effort in the drink-making department, you can assemble a fruit fan to decorate the drinks you serve to guests. You can even add Campari to your salads, so keeping this liqueur in your home will certainly become an ingredient that can be put to good use.