Aperol Spritz

Aperol Spritz is Italy’s number one choice for happy hour and for a very good reason. This classic Italian cocktail is both delicious and refreshing, the perfect refreshment for summer!

For a real Italian experience, how about following your drink with our Bruschetta Trio?

When it comes to summer recipes, we need to think of some amazing things to drink, not just eat. And when the sun is shining on a beautiful afternoon, it just has to be an Aperol Spritz!

I first spotted this vividly orange drink on our very first trip to Italy. When the it came to the afternoon, this beautiful drink was everywhere I looked in every piazza. People were sitting outside, chatting and sipping on this gorgeous orange sparkler.

I wanted to order it immediately but I didn’t know what it was called. Eventually I roused up the courage to point one of them out to waiter and say, “I want THAT”.

Getting an evening Aperol Spritz became such a tradition that I can’t imagine people watching on an Italian piazza without getting one, especially because Aperol was not available in the UK when we first discovered this delicious drink.

So what is this Aperol Spritz I am talking about?

Ingredients

An Aperol Spritz is a cocktail but a very easy one to make. Only 3 ingredients are needed: Prosecco, Aperol and Soda water.

It is usually served with a slice of orange in a white wine glass. I made mine with physalis for an autumnal twist.  

Aperol itself has a very unique and delicious taste, which comes from a blend of sweet and bitter oranges and many herbs and roots. Although made with oranges it doesn’t really taste like orange, it so much more complex!

The bitter taste of Aperol is important since this is served as an aperativo. Italians believe that it helps to open up the stomach and prepare it for a meal. A negroni is another drink that does the same thing!

Recipe tips and notes

• It’s important to think about temperature, especially if enjoying on a hot day in the summertime. A cocktail needs to be cold, as cold as possible. Use a lot of ice and refrigerate the ingredients beforehand so they are as chilled as possible. Colder can only improve this refreshing drink!
• The levels of sweetness and bittersweet flavour are completely up to you. Adjust the ingredients to get it to suit your taste.
• Adding an orange slice isn’t essential, but is traditional. Feel free to add or omit as you see fit!
• Prosecco is normally used because it is, after all, an Italian drink, but there’s no reason why another sparkling wine can’t be used.
• An Aperol Spritz is normally served in a large wine glass with lots of ice.
• Once you get comfortable with a basic spritz like this one, you can start to play around with the flavours and ingredients. I particularly love using Campari instead of Aperol, which has added bitterness. I also experimented to create a mojito spritz, but go with whatever inspires you!

Serving suggestions

In Italy, an Aperol Spritz is usually served as an aperitivo, or pre-dinner drink. Because Italians normally eat quite late, it’s normal to have a drink and snack in the late afternoon. Some of my best memories of Italy are around an aperitivo in a piazza on a warm day!

When ordering an aperitivo in Italy it should be accompanied by olives, crackers, meats, cheese, chips or snacks like crostini. It’s less than a meal but still very satisfying!

Although that is the Italian way, a spritz stands up perfectly well if you want to serve it without snacks. Enjoy it on a hot day for something really special!