Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Ignore your first reaction... December 27, 2006
Jonathan Van Matre (Austin, TX United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This drink shares a lot of its flavor profile with the aperitif Campari. If you like Campari, you'll almost certainly like Chinotto. As for the rest of you, read on!
The first time I tried Campari, it was on a lark, because a character in Sarah Caudwell's novel Thus Was Adonis Murdered drank it frequently during a trip to Venice. My first impression was that it was bitter, complex, and a bit overwhelming. It wasn't awful, but I couldn't really bring myself to like it. Eventually, I tried it again, and knowing this time what to expect I was better able to appreciate its multi-faceted complexity.
I encourage you to practice the same perseverance with Chinotto, whose primary ingredient - a bittersweet citrus fruit - is also a major part of the Campari formula. You will almost certainly NOT enjoy your first bottle. Fear not...there are six of them, so take advantage of the opportunity to experiment with your palate. Wait a few days and try again.
You won't know until the second or third tasting whether you are a budding Chinotto aficionado or a detractor in the making.
The reward, for those of you who take the time to discover a love of it, is a soda whose balanced taste makes it a far better companion to cuisine than the sickly sweet sodas we're accustomed to in America. Chinotto marries excellently with the sorts of meals you'd normally have wine with...not something one could easily say of Coke or Pepsi.
Ironically, American sodas (particularly the colas) often have complex and interesting formulas, but all that complexity is obscured by an excess of sugar (or sugar substitutes). Chinotto has sweetness, but it's a balanced sweetness that lets the other ingredients shine through. It's a drink that wakes up your whole tongue, which makes it excellent as an aperitif or a with-dinner drink.
The only reason I give it four stars is that the spirit Campari, and the bottled pre-mixed CampariSoda cocktail (10% alcohol content, very difficult to find outside Italy) both have an extra splash of genius in the formula. But for those times when you can't be drinking alcohol, Chinotto nearly reaches the same heavenly height.
 Tastes like Plastic March 20, 2005
Edmund Khoo
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Recently I bought a 6 pack of San Pellegrino Chinotto from a local supermarket. Upon sampling a bottle of the item, I promptly grimaced and gagged explosively. While the initial flavour is tolerable, with hints of orange and lemon, the first impression quickly fades into a rather unpalatable bitter taste, rather like melted plastic glad wrap. A definite acquired taste.
 Chinotto is refreshing May 15, 2005
George W. Schaeffer (buffalo ny)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
incredibly refreshing and a mystery in taste - little expensive but hey - why not?
Wife loves it ! May 5, 2006
Jonathan C. Melusky (Shoreline, WA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My wife and I have vastly different taste buds, which is perfect.
She loves the green apples and green bananas and I love the yellow
spotted bananas and the mealy ripe apples. She loves the San Pellegrino Chinotto and I like my syrup sweet hot chocolate. If you like sour things, then give this a try. My wife wants this drink to stick around so is enouraging me to write a good review of it, since she does not write online reviews and barely emails. (^:
Jonathan
If I can't stress it enough: ACQUIRED TASTE July 16, 2006
Hypnotripper (Dallas, TX USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
There are many unsual types of colas and drinks that I enjoy. If I don't like a certain drink, I am at least able to sample it further to decide what it is I don't particularly like about it. This was not the case with Chinotto. This drink tastes so awful that it sort of made me gag a little when I tried a second taste. The best I can decribe it would be like drinking liquid Vegemite. If you were never brought up with Vegemite and later in life you were able to pick it up and truly enjoy the taste of it, then I would recommend you give this a shot. If not, go to a store, pop one open, have a quick sip, leave it on the shelf, and then run away quickly! For advanced palates only. :)
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