Aperol Spritz
90 ml Sparkling wine, 60 ml Aperol, 30 ml Soda water, 1 Orange slice, 1 large cube Ice
Photo: Bellini at Harry's Bar by crazybobbles from London, England · CC BY 2.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 1200 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 1200 ml line. Sparkling wine - Prosecco is the traditional pour
- 600 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 600 ml line. Peach purée - White peaches, puréed and sieved; a good tinned peach will do out of season
- 12 slices Peach (optional)
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
- Put the purée in a chilled flute and top up slowly with prosecco.
Method
Batch (12 drinks)Batch (12 drinks) - about 1.8 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Chill the glass, the prosecco and the peach purée thoroughly - this drink has no ice to save it.
- Spoon the purée into the bottom of the flute.
- Pour the prosecco in slowly, down the side of the glass, and stir once with a long spoon.
- Add a slice of peach if you have a ripe one.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Bellini
Giuseppe Cipriani made the first one at Harry's Bar in Venice in the 1930s or 40s, depending on which of his own accounts you believe, and named it after a painting by Giovanni Bellini that had just been exhibited nearby. It was originally made with white peaches picked in the Veneto and puréed the same day, which is why the bar kept it seasonal for decades - and why one made in February with a sad supermarket peach is a different, lesser drink.
Getting it right
Cold, cold, cold: there is no ice in a Bellini and nothing to dilute it, so a warm one is a waste of prosecco. White peaches are the classic for a reason - they are softer and more floral than the yellow ones - and a splash of lemon juice in the purée keeps it from being cloying. Stir it once, gently; you want the colour to marry without flattening the bubbles.
Tasting notes
Light, peachy and just dry enough, with the prosecco's acidity keeping the fruit in check. It is a drink for the first hour of a long lunch, and it should be made one at a time.
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