Summer drinks- or anytime

[h=1]Aperol Spritz[/h] Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces Aperol
3 ounces Prosecco
Splash of soda water
Half an orange slice

Fill a wineglass half-full of ice. Add Aperol, then Prosecco. Top with a splash of sparkling water, stir, and then drop in an orange slice.


Sgroppino (from left), Negroni, Aperol Spritz. STEVEN M. FALK


[h=1]Americano Perfecto[/h] Makes 1 cocktail
1 1/2 ounces Campari
3/4 ounce Dolin Rouge
3/4 ounce Carpano Antica
4 ounces pilsner
orange wheel

1. Pour Campari and vermouths into a Collins glass over ice.
2. Top with pilsner and garnish with orange. — Damon Boelte, from Spritz: Italy’s Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, by Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseu
Note: This is Boelte’s twist on the Americano, a classic aperitivo. For the traditional version, pour 1 1/2 ounces Campari and 1 1/2 ounces sweet vermouth into a Collins glass over ice, top with soda water, and garnish with an orange wheel.


[h=1]Campari Spritz[/h] Makes 1 cocktail
1 1/2 ounces dry white wine
1 ounce Campari
1/2 ounce soda water
1 orange slice
1 green olive (optional)

1. Fill a rocks glass with 3 or 4 ice cubes. Add the white wine, Campari, and soda water.
2. Stir with a bar spoon, then add the orange slice and an olive on a cocktail skewer. — Marisa Huff, Aperitivo: The Cocktail Culture of Italy
Note: Easy variations include Aperol Spritz (replace the Campari with Aperol) and Spritz Bianco (equal parts white wine and soda, with a lemon garnish and no liqueur or olive

Are they known as old man drinks?

JEK said:

Are they known as old man drinks?

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Not that I know of. These are from a rather new and busy bar that recently opened here.




Step into Gran Caffe L'Aquila on a Friday evening, and you may feel like you've wandered out of Center City and into a bar in, say, Venice.
You're doing happy hour wrong. Here's how to fix it.





Staffers chatter in Italian, and, in the back, past the displays of gelati and panini, the marble-topped bar is laden with goblets of sparkling vermilion drink. Crowding in for drinks are regulars like Leontine Benedicenti, 39, a Milanese expatriate who was treating her homesickness with the preferred remedy, an Aperol Spritz.
This is aperitivo, the Italian answer to happy hour.
"It's a social experience," Benedicenti says. "I feel like I'm home here."
Though distinctly Italian, the aperitivo concept has arrived stateside.
It pairs snacks and small plates with low-alcohol cocktails ideal for day drinking, particularly in the summertime - think a spritz of bitter herbal liqueur, like Campari or Aperol, poured into Prosecco and topped with soda, or fortified wine like vermouth served over ice.



It's appearing in more bars on this side of the Atlantic. But it's a formula low-maintenance enough to replicate at home, with easygoing, three-ingredient cocktails, a few salty and savory snacks - and a couple of new cookbooks to serve as your guide.
Marisa Huff, author of Aperitivo: The Cocktail Culture of Italy (Rizzoli, 2016, $35 at Scarlett Alley, 241 Race St., and at Robertson's of Chestnut Hill, 8501 Germantown Ave.) explains that the word aperitivo describes both the cocktail itself and the practice, particularly in Northern Italian cities, of getting together and enjoying it.
"In Milan, every bar will put out a buffet of food, or have the kitchen send out small plates," she said. It's a post-work, predinner practice, from 6 to 9 p.m. "It's the social moment of the day once work is over. It's distinguished from American happy hour in many ways. For one, it's really about taking the time to relax and be with friends. Definitely the goal is not to get drunk. And rather than being cheaper, drinks might be more expensive because food is included."
Many who've encountered aperitivo as tourists can't resist importing it.
That includes Tenaya Darlington, Philadelphia coauthor of The New Cocktail Hour (Running Press, 2016, $22 at Barnes & Noble).
"One of my great memories of traveling in Italy is 4 o'clock, you wander to the piazza, the light is beginning to dim and then waiters start to appear with these beautiful bright-orange cocktails, and it just looks like sunset in a glass," she said. "You have a drink and feel completely rejuvenated. It's this aesthetic experience.

Thank you for posting this article Andy. My son moved to Philadelphia last week to begin his MBA. I have forwarded it to him as I know this is a place he would enjoy.

Sea_and_Sun said:

Thank you for posting this article Andy. My son moved to Philadelphia last week to begin his MBA. I have forwarded it to him as I know this is a place he would enjoy.

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Thanks. Here is the website https://grancaffelaquila.com/ Gran Caffe L’Aquila 1716 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 215-568-5600

Enjoy Campari but Aperol is just too bitter for us!

stbartshopper said:

Enjoy Campari but Aperol is just too bitter for us!

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Most find it just the opposite.

JEK said:

Most find it just the opposite.

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We agree with John.

"Both Aperol and Campari are Italian aperitivos produced by the Campari Group. Campari was created in 1860 by Gaspare Campari. Aperol was originally created by Luigi and Silvio Barbieri in 1919. They are both characterized as bitters, an alcoholic beverage that is flavored with bitter herbal essences. You will often find them in cocktail recipes tasked with the role of balancing the sweet notes of a recipe, much like their close cousin the amaro.
You’ve probably noticed conversations regarding the use of Aperol vs Campari in cocktail recipes. That’s because they have a lot of similarities, but I feel they are worlds apart. Aperol has a strong orange and mandarin orange flavor with a nice balance between a cinchona and gentian bitterness and an easy sugary sweetness. Campari kicks in with a bold woody bitterness, featuring more of a rhubarb and berry mid palette and finishes with a floral bouquet of potent herbs.
There are a couple things to consider when deciding whether to use Campari or Aperol in a recipe. First, Campari has a considerably bolder flavor, while Aperol has a higher sugar conent. If you prefer cocktails that are bitter then Campari will be your choice. It is harder to balance and needs an equal part sweetening agent like a sweet vermouth. On the other hand, since Aperol is smoother, it is also more versatile."

http://postprohibition.com/liquor-cabinet/aperol-campari/

I like Cass' informative piece . . . and I'm sure that I'd come to enjoy the "aperitivo concept!"

There's also the Luxardo option for a spritz.

Dennis said:

We agree with John.

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Make that three.

Spritz à la française:

De Venise, le spritz s’est propagé dans le nord de l’Italie puis, avec la mode de la mixologie, il a gagné la France où il est devenu l’un des cocktails les plus populaires.
Mais comme chaque fois en cas de succès, on copie, on interprète, on décline !
C’est ainsi que des barmen français ont d’abord imaginé de remplacer le Campari ou l’Aperol par un amer traditionnel français : la gentiane, donc des marques comme Salers, Avèze ou Suze.
Jusque-là, on reste dans la tradition même si on la revisite.
Cependant, des spritz nouveaux fleurissent, très infidèles à la recette initiale. Surtout quand il s’agit de corriger l’amertume par une liqueur sucrée alors que c’est justement cette note amère qui apporte le fraîcheur au cocktail. Par exemple, Suze prône un cocktail qui conjugue la gentiane et du sirop de pêche blanche !

If your Suze (bitter liqueur from the root of the mountain gentian) based spritz needs a little balancing sweetness, a dollop of white peach syrup is recommended. Mme Cassidain is particularly fond of Suze.

We will have to retry Aperol then as it has been a while.