🥃 Aperol

Aperol is an Italian aperitif (aperitivo) of bright orange colour with a bittersweet taste. It was created in 1919 in Padua by the brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri, and the brand now belongs to Campari Group. Aperol is 11% ABV, so under EU rules it is not a spirit drink: that category requires at least 15%.

The brothers worked in their father's liqueur business and, according to the brand's history, experimented with the recipe for seven years. The new drink was quickly embraced in the cafés of Padua and the bars of Venice. In the 1950s the Aperol Spritz cocktail recipe appeared, and the brand came to television in the programme “Carosello”. In 2003 Campari Group bought the company Barbero 1891, which owned Aperol at the time, and later took it to international markets; in 2019 the brand marked its centenary.

The exact recipe is not disclosed. Among the known ingredients are bitter and sweet orange, gentian root, cinchona bark and rhubarb; Difford's Guide writes of an infusion of 16 ingredients. Today Aperol is made at the group's largest plant in Novi Ligure in Piedmont, where Campari is also produced; in 2024 the plant's bottling capacity for Aperol was doubled.

Aperol is most often mixed with prosecco sparkling wine and soda water to make an Aperol Spritz, a variety of the Italian spritz. It is served in a glass with ice and a slice of orange.

Why it matters to you. Aperol and Campari are often confused: both are Italian bitter aperitifs from the same group, but Aperol is weaker (11% ABV against 20.5 to 28.5% for Campari, depending on the country) and orange rather than red. Low strength does not make a drink safe: a spritz also adds the alcohol of the sparkling wine. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.