Cocktails by spirit
Aperitif and spritz: the drinks before dinner.
Low ABV, long glasses, bitter-orange everything. The category Australia adopted wholesale from Italy.
Aperitif and spritz cocktails
Every cocktail on the site that uses this spirit as its base.
A short note on aperitif and spritz cocktails
Aperitivo is the Italian tradition of the drink before dinner: bitter, bright, slightly lower in alcohol, meant to wake up your appetite rather than knock you over. The Aperol Spritz is the flagship. The Negroni is the graduate course. The Hugo Spritz is the lighter cousin, elderflower-led. The Boulevardier replaces gin with bourbon for a richer winter version. None of these drinks want a standing start – they want to be the first thing you pour at 5pm on a Friday.
The bottles we pour
The shelf for this spirit. Each links to its own Food & Drinks review.
Aperol
Aperol is the liqueur that turned up at your last three summer barbecues. Half the ABV of Campari, twice the sweetness, a third of the bitter kick, and…
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Campari
Campari is the bottle that tastes like the first time you tried Campari: slightly alarming, deeply red, bitter in a way that announces itself. Then something happens around…
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Dolin Rouge Sweet Vermouth
Dolin Rouge is the lighter, more alpine cousin of Carpano Antica. Made in Chambery with mountain herbs, wormwood, and a gentler sweetness, it gives you a Negroni or…
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Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth
Carpano Antica Formula is the vermouth that makes other vermouths look like apology notes. Deep, rich, slightly raisiny, with vanilla and cocoa rolling in behind the traditional Italian…
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St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Our takeSt-Germain is the liqueur that turned elderflower from a hedgerow curiosity into a bar staple. Pale gold in the bottle, it tastes like honey, pear and a…
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Dal Zotto Pucino Prosecco NV
Dal Zotto Pucino is the bottle that taught Australia that Prosecco could be serious. Slightly finer bubbles than Brown Brothers, a touch more citrus, and a longer, drier…
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