Type Bitter | Producer Campari Group | Region Italy > Padua | ABV 11% | Volume 700 ml | Price (AUD) ~$40
House notes
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 a colour engineered to look exactly right in a balloon glass with ice and prosecco. Orange, gentian, rhubarb, and a long pleasant finish. People who drink Campari pretend to look down on Aperol; they are lying. Aperol is a great bottle. It is just a different bottle, for a different occasion, usually one involving sunshine and small plates of something fried. Stop apologising for the Spritz.
What it pairs with
The Spritz is the obvious home. Also works in a Paper Plane, an Aperol Sour, or a summer Negroni variation if you swap it one-for-one with Campari (lighter, softer, drinkable at 3pm). Food: olives, bruschetta, salumi, baked feta with tomato, crispy fried zucchini flowers, a good burrata. Anything that calls for a bitter-orange chaser with a little fizz. Do not try it in a Boulevardier. Do not try it in an Old Fashioned. You have been warned.
About the producer
Aperol was created in 1919 by the Barbieri brothers in Padua, Italy, specifically as a lower-alcohol aperitif for the post-war European mood. The Campari Group bought it in 2003 and spent the next two decades turning it into a global summer staple.