As someone frequently and easily distracted by shiny objects, there’s really no one better to vouch for Campari, what with its bright colors and expensive advertisements. Beyond the Salma Hayek Campari calendar, however, lies a mysterious and little-known liqueur, pregnant with possibility and ready to add a festive touch to your liquor cabinet.

By its detractors, Campari is described ungenerously as tasting like cough syrup. While this isn’t entirely untrue, it’s better to say that Campari is the most delicious cough syrup you’ve ever tasted, bursting with herbs and spices and, as of the last bottling, devoid of beetles. No one really knows what’s in Campari, but we now know one thing that isn’t: The cochineal scale insect, source of the carmine dye that, until recently, gave Campari its distinctive color.

People who like Campari on the rocks are free to enjoy it as they will; for the rest of us, here are a few recipes that use it wisely.

Negroni

1 oz Gin

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1 oz Campari

Pour over ice in a rocks glass and stir gently. Garnish with a flamed orange twist.

Flaming an orange peel is a relatively simple trick, which looks impressive, adds flavor and lets you set things on fire all at the same time. In order to do this, find a healthy orange and, with a paring knife, shave off a thin slice, going for length rather than width — about 1/4 inch by 1 inch is good. Try to include as little of the pith as possible. Once you have that, position the following three things: The glass should be on a table in front of you, the twist somewhere beside it, ready to be picked up, and a box of matches at the side (a lighter will work in a pinch, but for some reason it seems to burn the peel too much).

Light the match, then hold the twist between your thumb and forefinger so that it is longer than it is tall, and bends away from you if you squeeze (but don’t squeeze yet!). Now, hold the twist over the glass, and place the match between the twist and the drink. Squeeze the twist, and you should see a moment of bright flame, as the oils from the peel catch fire and fall into the drink. Once this has happened, put out the match, twist the piece of orange peel to release any more oils, and drop it into the glass.

The legend of the Negroni, if you will, has it that a Count Negroni of Italy created it by asking for gin to be substituted for the soda water in his Americano. Rather than the better-known coffee drink, this Americano was actually:

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1 oz Campari

2 oz Soda Water

Pour the vermouth and Campari on ice, as before, and add the soda water. Stir once more and serve with an orange twist, flamed or not.

If you aren’t enamored of the bitter taste of Campari, either of these drinks will alter the balance in your favor, with the vermouth adding sweetness and the soda water or gin diluting the thickness of the other two ingredients. The flamed orange peel, meanwhile, adds a distinctive citrus taste and gives the drink a finished quality. So grab your wooden matches and start pouring; I’m off to get as far away as I can before you start.