CLASSIC ITALIAN COCKTAILS YOU NEED TO TRY
Imagine finding yourself in a busy Italian city, such as Milan or Rome, you have been touring and exploring all day and you're hungry, but it’s not time for dinner yet. That’s the perfect time for an aperitivo!
Aperitivo is basically a warm up for dinner, usually consumed after a work-day; it is a pre-meal drink and snack meant to whet your appetite or appease hunger before dinner.It typically includes finger foods like small sandwiches, cheeses, cured meats, mini pizzas, chips and nuts. Cocktail options tend to be refreshing and light on alcohol.
There is also a variation on this custom called apericena, which usually consists of a drink and a varied dinner buffet, included in the price. Meant to combine the aperitivo with dinner, prices for apericena usually vary between 7 to 15 euros depending on the food options available.
Here are some classic Italian cocktails that you need to try in your aperitivo or apericena!
AMERICANO
Americano was the first Italian cocktail to be served as an aperitivo. There are different versions that narrate the birth of this cocktail. The most credible story dates to the 1960’s in Bar Camparino, in the Galleria del Duomo in Milan. Named to honor Primo Carnera (L'Americano or the American), an Italian American boxer who became world heavyweight champion at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1933.
Ingredients
1 part Campari
1 part Red Vermouth
1 part Soda water
NEGRONI
This orangish cocktail was created in Florence between 1919 and 1925 by the barman Luigi Scarselli, in honour of Conte Camillo Negroni, who was a regular customer at the Caffè Casoni, in Via Tornabuoni.
Conte Camillo Negroni used to ask the bartender for “il solito” (the usual) or “an Americano with some gin”: that’s how Negroni was invented.
Ingredients
1 part Gin
1 part Campari
1 part sweet Red Vermouth
Orange slice
BELLINI
Bellini was created in Venice’s famous Harry’s Bar by bartender Giuseppe Cipriani, sometime between 1938-1948, and gets its name because the drink's color reminded the bartender of a painting by Giovanni Bellini.
Ingredients
2 parts of Prosecco
1 part fresh peach puree
APEROL SPRITZ
Aperol Spritz is one of the most famous Italian cocktails. Originated in Venice, this beverage has a lightly sparkling taste. It is usually served with ice and a green olive. The classic venetian recipe includes white wine as the most important component of the cocktail; however for the international recipe prosecco is generally preferred.
Ingredients
1 part White Wine (or prosecco)
1 part Aperol
1 part sparkling water
1 Orange slice
