In the pink?

What is it that makes Pink Gin pink and used to make Campari pink? Of course the quick answer is bitters. But what is it in bitters that produces that distinctive colour? In short, it’s something called cochineal – more specifically, it’s a female, parasitic insect which spends most of its life living on the pads of prickly-pear cacti before being harvested, dried and then pulverised to produce a dark red powder. Some 70,000 insects are needed to produce 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) of cochineal dye. In addition to beverage uses, this commodity is used as a fabric dye, a food colourant, for such as in candies, sausage casings, dairy items like cheese and ice cream and in cosmetics – lipsticks, blushes and nail polish. The world’s biggest producers/exporters of cochineal are: Peru (use here goes back to the 1100s) followed by Mexico, Spain’s Canary Islands and other parts of South America. During 2025, Peru’s shipments of cochineal and derivatives reached US$72.57 million with the United States being the largest market. As an insect, and therefore animal-based, cochineal (and likewise bitters), is not an option for vegetarians or vegans.