Introduction: What Is the Garibaldi?

Ask a bartender in Rome for a Garibaldi, and you’ll be handed a drink that’s deceptively simple: just Campari and fresh orange juice. Two ingredients. No garnish. No fuss.

But here’s the trick — this isn’t just a drink. It’s a story. A flag. A quiet rebellion served with a slice of orange sunshine.

In the north, Campari. Bitter, precise, industrial red.
In the south, oranges. Sweet, sun-drenched, Sicilian gold.
Together, they meet in a glass.

It’s called the Garibaldi — named after the man who unified Italy.

Just like the country it represents, it’s bright, bitter, bold, and has a deeper meaning if you know how to taste it.

A Name That Matters — But He Didn’t Mix the Drink

Let’s get something straight: Giuseppe Garibaldi never made this cocktail.
He didn’t invent it, didn’t drink it, didn’t mix it behind some bar in Genoa.

The drink was created decades after his death — likely in the postwar 20th century — by bartenders who knew that symbolism can taste as good as citrus.

So why name a cocktail after a general?

Because Garibaldi wasn’t just a man — he was an idea. And the drink reflects that idea in perfect proportions.

A Short History: Why Garibaldi Fought to Unite Italy

Before the 1860s, Italy wasn’t Italy.
It was a jigsaw of kingdoms, duchies, and city-states — many under foreign control: Austria in the north, the Spanish Bourbons in the south, the Papal States in the centre.

Enter Giuseppe Garibaldi — a sailor turned soldier, exiled, ex-revolutionary, and lifelong fighter for freedom. He believed Italy should belong to the Italians. One nation. One people. No kings, no popes, no foreign flags.

In 1860, Garibaldi and his Redshirts — a volunteer army of 1,000 men — landed in Sicily.
They swept north in a dramatic campaign that changed the continent.

It was messy, chaotic, idealistic. It wasn’t polished politics.
It was movement. It was will.

And it worked. Garibaldi gave southern Italy back to the people — then handed power to the king to complete the unification.

He didn’t do it for control. He did it for unity.

A Cocktail That Mirrors a Nation

That’s why this cocktail matters.

Campari from Milan.
Oranges from Sicily.
The north. The south.

It’s not just a drink — it’s a metaphor in a glass.

It takes two parts of Italy that once stood apart — different cultures, climates, dialects — and binds them together into something balanced, striking, and unmistakably Italian.

Call it liquid unification.

A Drink with Depth — and Contrast

At first glance, the Garibaldi looks like orange juice with an agenda. But let’s break it down.

Campari:
The signature red aperitivo of Milan, invented in 1860 — the very year Garibaldi led his famous campaign. Coincidence? Maybe. But it adds poetry. Campari brings the bitter bite of herbs, roots, and industrial confidence.

Fresh Orange Juice:
The best Garibaldi cocktails use fresh juice, whipped to create a soft froth. Think of sun-drenched oranges from Sicily or Calabria — sweet, radiant, full of southern warmth.