The Aperol Spritz: Why It's Having a Moment
2024-11-17 · 5 min read
The Aperol Spritz has become the official drink of golden hour. Three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, one part soda water, served over ice in a wine glass with an orange slice. It is low-ABV, impossibly refreshing, and looks like a sunset in a glass. For the past several years, it has been the drink most likely to appear on an Instagram story between the hours of 4 and 7 PM.
Aperol, the bright orange Italian aperitivo liqueur, was actually created in 1919 but spent decades as a regional Italian secret. Campari Group acquired the brand in 2003 and spent years building its global presence, particularly targeting younger drinkers with a lifestyle marketing approach that positioned the Spritz as the drink of European summer. The strategy worked spectacularly well.
The drink's rise coincided with a broader shift toward lower-alcohol cocktails. At roughly 8 percent ABV, an Aperol Spritz lets you have two or three over a long afternoon without writing off the evening. It fills the gap between wine and a full cocktail, making it ideal for daytime drinking, outdoor dining, and any situation where pace matters more than potency.
Critics have called it too sweet or too simple, and a viral New York Times article once declared it not good. The internet responded with such furious defense of the drink that it became the most-read cocktail piece in the paper's history. The backlash to the backlash proved that the Aperol Spritz had transcended cocktail status and become a cultural identity.
For anyone who wants more complexity, the Select Spritz uses the Venetian aperitivo Select instead of Aperol, adding herbal bitterness that tilts the drink toward the adult end of the spectrum. But the classic Aperol version endures because it is not trying to be complex. It is trying to be enjoyable, and on that metric, it is nearly unbeatable.
