Bitter Aperitif Spritz

The well-known liqueur Aperol mixed with Prosecco, possibly some mineral water, ice cubes and decorated with a slice of orange is a very popular cocktail in summer.

Background & Inspiration

Aperol is a brand of the Campari Group for an Italian liqueur. Because of its fruity-bitter taste, it is mostly used as an aperitif or in cocktails. It is a distillate of rhubarb, cinchona bark, yellow gentian, bitter orange and aromatic herbs with orange-red color and bittersweet aroma.

The recipe for Aperol originated at the beginning of the 20th century: the brothers Silvio and Luigi Barbieri developed the aperitif exclusively for the Padua International Fair in 1919. The name Aperol derives from the French and is based on a synonym for "aperitif".

Among other things, Aperol is drunk neat on ice, mixed with tonic water to make Aperol Tonic or with lemon juice and sugar syrup to make Aperol Sour; with a splash of vodka, the variation is called Aperol Sour Royal. The variation of Caipirinha with Aperol instead of Cachaça is called Caipirol. Combinations of Aperol with white wine, beer, champagne or prosecco are also popular. The mixture with Prosecco is called Aperol Spritz. The Spritz, which is widespread in Veneto as an aperitif, is made from white wine, mineral water and a spirit and is usually prepared with Aperol, Campari or similar liqueurs.

Ingredients

• FLV Back Bar Bitters: Bitter notes
• FLV Blood Orange: Orange with bitter notes
• FLV Brut Bubble Wine: Sparkling Prosecco
• FLV Citrus Soda: Supporting citrus notes and carbonation
• FLV Ice: Liquid sensation
• FLV Rhubarb: Natural Rhubarb
• VT Russian Vodka: Alcohol note

Additional Notes

• If you like it cold, feel free to add some WS-23
• After mixing leave to set for at least 3-4 hours, best after 1 day
• While developing the recipe, I also tested FLV Tequila Agave for the alcohol note to use Flavorah flavors exclusively. FLV Tequila Agave is basically just as suitable as VT Russian Vodka to simulate the taste of alcohol, but brought a inappropriate bitter aftertaste for me, which I could not compensate even by reducing FLV Back Bar Bitters.

Links

If you wanna check out VAPICON feel free to join our discord channel. We‘re a German DIY community but we do have an international channel for english speakers too: https://discord.gg/FuCSeKw