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The Aperol Spritz: My New Summer Cocktail

I’m not a huge drinker of adventurous alcoholic beverages.  I’m rather plain-jane with my ubiquitous glass of white wine while cooking dinner most days a week (unless we are talking about my Summer White Wine Sangria…thats about as adventurous as I normally get).  The whole Cosmo craze passed me by…I just never quite got into it. However, I do consider myself a bit of authority, and snob, when it comes to Margaritas as my dad’s recipe is by far, the best ever.  But that’s neither here nor there, just had to plug my dad’s Margarita recipe

The first day we arrived in Munich and sat down for dinner, I noticed this bright orange/red beverage being served and consumed, but had no idea what it was.  By my fine-tuned methods of observation and deduction, I finally figured out that this drink was the Aperol Spritz and by the time we arrived in Prague, 2 weeks into our trip, I was ready to step outside of my ‘glas chardonnay, bitte’ phase and confidently order ‘an aperol spritz, prosim’.  

After my first Aperol Spritz, I did a little research and found out the following.  It seems I am a little late to the Aperol game.  Aperol,  an aperitif that originated in Italy, has been around for about 100 years.  It first gained popularity in Europe after WWI and is now a common summer drink throughout Europe, though the biggest purchases of Aperol are in Germany, Austria and Italy.   Given that it is an aperitif, meant to stimulate appetite, it’s not surprising that one of its ingredients is gentian, an herb used as an appetite stimulant.  

aperol spritz

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Surprisingly, or maybe not so, gentian is also used to treat hysteria..hmmm.  The other significant ingredients are bitter and sweet orange, rhubarb and a ‘secret ingredient’.  The inclusion of both gentian and the bitter orange lend to the definitely bitter bite of Aperol.  It is bitter, slightly sweet and refreshing.  Aperol is also lower in calories and alcohol content than white wine, nothing wrong with that.

It seems that the most common way Aperol is served is in an Aperol Spritz, which is a combination of Prosecco (or other dry sparkling white wine), Aperol and Club Soda, with a slice of orange.  Using a Prosecco, which is a dry sparkling wine, keeps your alcohol and sugar content low, which not only keeps the calories low, but I find it more refreshing on a hot summer day.  Here is the recipe for an Aperol Spritz from the Aperol website:

Aperol Spritz

Ice and a slice of orange

3 parts of Prosecco

2 parts of Aperol

1 splash of Soda

Start by adding ice into the glass then pour in the Prosecco, the Aperol and add a splash of soda, top with a slice of orange. This serving avoids the Aperol settling at the bottom.
 
When I step off the wagon, which will coincide with my birthday in a couple of weeks, the Aperol Spritz will be my drink of choice for the remainder of the summer.  I do find it more refreshing and it will take me back to our wonderful vacation this summer.  In the meantime, I’m also enjoying the Prague way of flavoring lemonade.

If you liked this recipe with Prosecco, I think you will also like the Rose Prosecco cocktail.

 
Enjoy this new cocktail and thanks for stopping by for a visit. 
 
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3 Comments

    1. Hi Joan, not sure if you got my email from a couple of days ago, but just in case you didn’t wanted to let you know that you can access all my knit pattern under my Create Menu. There is a sub-menu for Needlework and all my knit patterns are there! Happy Knitting!

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