The Aperol Spritz craze that has swept the nation and far of the world has launched many to what Italians have identified for years—citrusy bitter liqueur is molto buona!
Brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri launched Aperol in 1919 on the Padua Worldwide Truthful—a well-liked commerce occasion that featured new food and drinks merchandise—held within the metropolis of Padua, in Northern Italy’s Veneto area. On the time, aperitivo hour was common within the area, and the vary of refreshing drinks to accompany this pre-dinner ritual was rising. Aperol, with its approachable citrus-sweet taste profile and hanging sunshine-in-a-glass hue, made a splash on the honest, and historical past was made.
Within the Fifties the Aperol Spritz was created, shortly changing into a modern aperitivo all through Europe. Quickly, Aperol grew to become the best-selling spirit in Italy. The refreshing mixture of prosecco, Aperol, and membership soda didn’t utterly take off stateside till a long time later, however the cocktail has solely grown in reputation within the years since.
Aperol is usually the mild gateway spirit for the bittersweet liqueur class. It tends to be lighter in profile and never as intense as a few of its extra aggressive purple bitter counterparts, resembling Campari. With a comparatively low alcohol content material of 11% ABV, zesty citrus notes, and fragrant flavors of gentian, rhubarb and cinchona, additionally it is extraordinarily mixable and makes for a wonderful cocktail ingredient past the Spritz.
Based mostly on the infinite demand for Aperol Spritzes, it’s clear that bubbles assist to deliver this shiny orange-red aperitivo to life, however Aperol’s bittersweet botanicals additionally lend themselves effectively to quite a lot of base spirits from gin and mezcal to bourbon and rum, and past.
Listed below are 11 of one of the best cocktails to make with a bottle of Aperol.