Aperol Spritz: The Classic Italian Aperitivo Recipe

Few drinks say summer quite like an Aperol Spritz. Bright orange, gently bitter, lightly fizzy and low in alcohol, it is the definitive Italian aperitivo, made to sip in the early evening with a few snacks before dinner. It is also one of the easiest cocktails in the world to make.

The whole thing comes down to a simple ratio and good, cold ingredients. Here is how to build the classic.

The Classic Ratio

The traditional recipe follows a simple rhythm: three parts Prosecco, two parts Aperol, one part soda water. It is easy to remember and easy to scale, and it produces the balanced, gently bitter, not-too-sweet drink that made the spritz famous. Building it in that order, Prosecco first, keeps it light and bubbly.

The single most important tip is temperature. Everything should be cold, and the glass should be full of ice, because a spritz is meant to be bracingly refreshing. Use a large wine glass, which is the classic vessel and leaves room for plenty of ice and an orange slice.

What Is Aperol

Aperol is an Italian aperitivo, a bittersweet orange liqueur flavored with herbs and roots, and it is relatively low in alcohol, which is part of why the spritz is such an easy early-evening drink. Its gentle bitterness is the whole point of the aperitivo tradition, meant to whet the appetite before a meal.

If you want a more bitter, higher-octane version, you can swap in Campari for a Campari Spritz, or reach for another Italian bitter. But for the classic, sunny, crowd-pleasing spritz, Aperol is the one.

Where the Spritz Comes From

The spritz belongs to the Veneto, the region of north-east Italy that stretches from Venice to the Prosecco hills. Aperol itself was created in Padua in 1919 by the Barbieri brothers, and the city still treats the drink as a civic institution, with the cafés around Piazza delle Erbe filling up with orange glasses from late afternoon. In Venice, the ritual lives in the bacari, the small standing bars where a spritz comes with a few cicchetti before dinner. If you want to drink it at the source, our guide to the Veneto wine region and our list of the best things to do in Venice are the places to start.

The Prosecco in your glass comes from the same corner of the country. The steep hills between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, an hour north of Venice, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2019, and a day among their vineyards, ending with a spritz on a terrace, is one of the easiest and most rewarding wine excursions in Italy. For another Prosecco classic, try our Negroni Sbagliato recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions