Bellini
100 ml Sparkling wine, 50 ml Peach purée, 1 slice Peach
Aperol Spritz
Bitter orange and bubbles - the sound of an evening starting.
Refreshing
Easy
3 min
Photo: Aperol Spritz - July 2024 - Sarah Stierch · All credits
Ingredients
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Sparkling wine - Prosecco
- 60 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) of a standard jigger, plus two teaspoons. Aperol
- 30 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a teaspoon. Soda water
- 1 slice Orange slice
- 1 large cube Ice
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Fill the glass with ice and add the prosecco.
- Add Aperol, then a splash of soda, and stir once.
Method
- Fill a large wine glass to the top with ice - any less and it will go warm.
- Pour in the prosecco first, then the Aperol.
- Add the splash of soda water and stir once, briefly.
- Add the orange slice and serve immediately.
Serve it
Aperol Spritz
Three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, one part soda: the formula the Veneto has been mixing since the 1950s, and the reason an entire region stops what it is doing at six o'clock. It is barely a recipe, and it is the best thing to drink before dinner - bitter enough to wake an appetite, gentle enough to have a second one while you decide what to cook.
Getting it right
Big glass, plenty of ice, and pour in the order the drink wants: prosecco first, then the Aperol, then a short splash of soda. The lighter things go in last so the bubbles survive the trip, and if you stir it, stir once - you are mixing it, not beating it. An inexpensive prosecco is perfect here, because the Aperol is doing the talking. Have something salty within reach.
Tasting notes
Soft orange and rhubarb bitterness riding on crisp bubbles, with a sweet, faintly herbal finish that keeps bringing you back. The most forgiving drink in the book, and the one most likely to turn a Tuesday evening into an occasion.
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