There has been something of a boom in American aperitivos in the last few years, with new products coming out of Colorado, California and Washington, D.C. They all have a few things in common: a slight bitterness and a bright-red color. And bugs.

Yes, bugs. Many of these drinks use the natural dye carmine, which is extracted from the cochineal, a tiny insect, to achieve their vibrant hue. This is not some weird new craft-distilling trend: Cochineals (KAHCH-i-neels), native to the Americas, have been used for centuries to lend color to everything from fabric to cosmetics to food.

For decades, Campari was the most famous spirit to use crushed cochineals for coloring. The company decided in 2006 to discontinue its use in most of its bottlings, in favor of artificial colors, because of what it called the “uncertainty of supply of the natural colorant.” That would have seemed to be a death knell for the insect’s future in liquor.