Aperol Spritz
The Aperol Spritz became the most ordered cocktail in the world during the 2010s, which was partly a marketing achievement and partly deserved. Built properly it is bright, bitter and genuinely refreshing. Built carelessly it is flat orange squash, and it is built carelessly a great deal. The format is older than the bottle. The spritz tradition comes from the Veneto, where Austrian soldiers under Habsburg rule diluted the strong local wine with water and called it spritzen, from the German for to splash. Bitter liqueurs joined later. Aperol arrived in 1919 and turned out to suit prosecco better than anything else did. The three to two to one ratio of prosecco, Aperol and soda was codified and marketed by Campari Group from the early 2000s, and it is not an arbitrary commercial decision. It is the proportion at which the prosecco still leads, the Aperol seasons without dominating, and the soda keeps the whole thing light.
Glassware: Wine Glass
Garnish: Orange Slice
Ingredients
90ml
Extra Dry or Brut, well chilled, and the ingredient that defines the drink more than the Aperol does. Anything sweeter than Extra Dry pushes the whole thing cloying and nothing else can pull it back.
60ml
The bitter orange and the colour, at 11 per cent so it does not make the drink spirit-forward. There is no meaningful substitute: Campari at the same measure makes a different and far more demanding drink.
30ml
Well chilled and added last, poured gently down the inside of the glass to preserve the carbonation already in it. Thirty millilitres lengthens the drink without diluting the bitterness away.
Instructions
Fill a large wine glass to the top with large cubed ice.
Pour the prosecco over the ice first.
Add the Aperol.
Pour the chilled soda water gently down the inside of the glass.
Stir once with a single slow upward lift of the bar spoon.
Place an orange slice in the glass or on the rim.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification, listed as Spritz; method ours). Last checked 13 August 2026.
Expert Tip
Prosecco first, then Aperol, then soda. The order genuinely matters: Aperol is denser, and if it goes in first it pools under the ice, which then needs aggressive stirring to integrate and costs you most of the carbonation. Poured on top of prosecco it disperses on its own and one gentle lift of the spoon finishes it. Fill the glass with ice properly. A spritz with four cubes in it warms within minutes, and as it warms the ratio shifts and the drink goes flat and sweet. Buy Extra Dry or Brut prosecco. Extra Dry, despite the name, is the sweeter of the two and the traditional Veneto choice; Brut makes a drier version. Anything sweeter than Extra Dry tips the drink over, and nothing else in the glass can rescue it.
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
The spritz tradition in the Veneto predates Aperol by nearly a century. Austrian soldiers and administrators stationed in the region during Habsburg rule found the local wine stronger than they were used to and cut it with water, a habit they called spritzen, from the German for to spray or splash.
The practice evolved to take in the bitter liqueurs of northern Italy, and Aperol arrived in 1919, created by Luigi and Silvio Barbieri in Padua: bitter and sweet oranges, rhubarb, gentian and cinchona in a deliberately low-proof base, designed to be more approachable than the assertive aperitivi of the day.
Its affinity with prosecco, the sparkling wine of the hills around Treviso and Conegliano, became the tradition's most recognisable form.
The Marketing, Honestly
The global rise was not organic and it is worth saying so. Campari Group acquired Aperol in 2003 and pushed the three to two to one build across European aperitivo hours from the mid-2000s onward, and the effect on bar order data within a decade was extraordinary.
That is an achievement in marketing rather than in drinks. But the campaign was promoting something good enough to sustain the attention, which is why the drink outlasted the campaign. A great many heavily marketed cocktails have not.
The Ratio
Three parts prosecco, two of Aperol, one of soda. It is worth measuring rather than approximating, because adjusting by instinct reliably makes it worse.
More Aperol gives a heavier, more bitter drink that loses the prosecco's freshness, which is the most common way a home-made spritz goes wrong. Less gives you a wine spritz with a faint orange note. More soda dilutes past the point where the Aperol can hold its own at all.
The proportion is doing something specific: the prosecco leads, the Aperol seasons, and the soda keeps it light enough to drink for an hour. That is the whole brief of an aperitivo.
The Prosecco Decision
The prosecco defines the drink more than the Aperol does, which surprises people.
Aperol's contribution is consistent: the same bitter orange, the same colour, the same sweetness every time. Prosecco varies enormously by producer, style and quality, and it is three parts of six.
It should be Extra Dry or Brut. Extra Dry, despite the name, sits between Brut and Dry on the sweetness scale and is the traditional Veneto choice. Brut is drier and more austere, and some people prefer it. Both are correct. Anything with more residual sugar than Extra Dry pushes the drink out of the balance the format was built for, and neither the Aperol nor the soda can bring it back.
How to Serve It
Built over a full glass of ice in a large wine glass: prosecco first, Aperol second, soda third, one slow upward lift of the bar spoon, orange slice in the glass or on the rim.
Immediately and cold. It is an aperitivo in the strict sense, built to open the appetite and prepare the palate for food, and its bitterness, low strength and effervescence all serve that purpose. It belongs with something salty beside it.
The Spirit
AperolAn Italian aperitivo at 11% alcohol, orange-led and only lightly bitter. The Barbieri brothers launched it in Padua in 1919, and its low strength is the defining feature rather than a compromise: a drink built on it stays under the strength of a glass of wine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Aperol Spritz?
Prosecco, Aperol and soda water over ice in a three to two to one ratio, with an orange slice. It comes out of the Veneto spritz tradition and was the most ordered cocktail in the world through the 2010s.
Where does the spritz come from?
The Veneto. Austrian soldiers under Habsburg rule diluted the strong local wine with water and called it spritzen. Bitter liqueurs joined later, Aperol arrived in 1919, and Campari Group marketed the modern ratio from the early 2000s.
Does the prosecco matter?
More than the Aperol does, because it is three parts of six and it varies by producer where Aperol does not. Extra Dry or Brut; anything sweeter tips the drink cloying, and no amount of soda will rescue it.
Why pour the prosecco first?
Because Aperol is denser. Poured in first it pools under the ice and needs aggressive stirring to integrate, which costs carbonation. On top of prosecco it disperses on its own, and one gentle lift finishes the job.
Master the Techniques
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Americano
The Americano was born at Gaspare Campari's bar in Milan in the 1860s, served then as the Milano-Torino after its two principal ingredients: Campari from Milan and sweet vermouth from Turin. The name Americano came later, attributed to the American tourists and expatriates who ordered it in such volume that the drink became associated with them. It is the direct ancestor of the Negroni, predating it by roughly half a century. It is one of the simplest drinks in the canon and one of the most instructive. Three ingredients built directly in the glass, no shaking, no stirring beyond a single gentle turn to integrate the soda. The restraint is the point: this is a drink designed for length and sessionability, and for the specific pleasure of something bitter, sweet and effervescent taken slowly in warm weather before a meal. The sweet vermouth is the variable that decides the whole thing. At equal volume to the Campari it has nowhere at all to hide.
Campari & Soda
Campari & Soda has been served in Italian bars since the late nineteenth century and has never needed improving. Two ingredients, built in a glass, drunk before a meal. The simplicity is not a limitation, it is the entire point: Campari is complex enough that adding anything beyond soda and ice risks obscuring the thing that makes it worth drinking. The drink became a fixture of aperitivo culture partly through a piece of industrial design. In 1932 the company commissioned Fortunato Depero, a Futurist artist, to design a single-serve bottle that could be sold pre-mixed and carried to a table without a bartender. The inverted cone that resulted became one of the most recognisable pieces of drinks packaging in Europe, and it introduced the combination to a generation who might never have ordered it at a bar. The ratio matters more than it appears to. Too much soda and the bitterness goes dilute and loses its structure; too little and the drink is heavy and slow. The correct proportion lets the Campari lead while the soda lifts and extends it into something sessionable.
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits
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