A couple weeks ago I was casually perusing the cold beverage case at my local Italian market, looking over the acqua frizzante and Aranciata and I found something I’ve never seen before: Sanbitter. It’s bottled by San Pelligrino but has it’s own very distinctive look, unlike the rest of the S.Pelligrino line of beverages.
It looks a lot like Campari and has “bitter” right there in the name, so I wasted no time in buying a bottle to try out. I served it over ice with an orange slice and wasn’t disappointed — it tastes like a slightly sweeter, carbonated Campari. I thought it was pretty good, but don’t expect to buy it again. I’m not a soda drinker, but it’s worth trying at least once. Sarai, needless to say, didn’t care for it.
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I drank that quite a bit in italy :) interesting stuff!
I never actually noticed it in Italy, but then, when I visit I tend to stick to Campari and soda or Campari e arancia.
Kenn, I believe the Italians quaff this liquid almost exclusively as a palette cleanser, before a meal. Viewed in this context, the stuff may seem slightly less obnoxious.
where did you buy this? my wife loves it and we’ve only been able to buy this on travels abroad… she’s 7 mos pregnant and this is the only ‘cocktail’ drink that tastes worth having. can you let us know the name of your local italia mkt?
Well, I have no idea where you are, so my answer may not mean much to you. At the time I wrote this, I was living in Oakland and could buy Sanbitter at Genova Delicatessen, an Italian market and deli around the corner from my house. I now live in Portland and have found it at Pastaworks.
Hope that helps.
August 2010
You can get it at Italian wholesale groceries, find in the phone book –
this helps-ish. i’d search by ‘sanbitter/seattle’ when i first found your blog so i thought it made sense to ask the ‘where’ question. well, my tech skills underwelm me once again but this is a start. we’re up in seattle so maybe even a long haul to pdx may be in the cards if we can’t find something up here. thx
Any good Italian deli should stock the stuff. Seattle is fairly cosmopolitan, I’m sure you’ll find it there. I even found some in a little coffee shop along the coast just south of San Francisco.