These bright, punchy co*cktails are just what you need to toast the warm weather.
Since its debut at the 1919 Padua International Fair, the Italian aperitif Aperol has pretty much single handedly turned the spritz into an international drinking tradition. And since the bittersweet drink—made with citrus oil and a secret recipe of herbs and roots—is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, now is the perfect time to embrace its palate-refreshing, co*cktail-brightening, sip summer-ifying powers. From the co*cktail that started it all, the original Aperol Spritz, to negronis, paper planes, and more, these are the recipes you'll want to keep in rotation all season long.
The Original Aperol Spritz
Ingredients
Equal parts Aperol
Equal parts Cinzano Prosecco
Splash of Soda
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in a wine glass with ice and gently stir. Garnish with an orange slice.
Brockmans Summer Negroni
Ingredients
2 oz Brockmans Gin
1 oz Antica Formula
1 oz Aperol
Raspberries
Dehydrated orange for garnish
Instructions
Muddle 4 raspberries in a shaker and add ice cubes with all the other ingredients. Shake until chilled. Double strain into a rocks glass over an ice ball. Garnish with a slice of dehydrated orange.
Ten Spot
Ingredients
1.5 oz Tanqueray no. Ten gin
.5 oz Aperol
.5 oz Grapefruit
.5 oz Lime
Instructions
Stir ingredients over ice; strain into champagne flute
By John Walter from Outlier in Seattle.
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Summer City Spritz
Ingredients
1.5 oz Banks 5 Rum
.5 oz Aperol
.75 oz watermelon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
.5 oz lemon juice
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a wine glass with ice and stir. Top with sparkling water and garnish with mint leaves.
By Kenneth McCoy, Chief Creative Officer of Public House Collective for The Rum House
Maya Bay
Ingredients
1.5 oz Playa Real Mandarin
.5 oz Agave syrup
.75 oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
.5 oz Aperol
Garnish with a lime wedge
Instructions
Combine, shake well and pour into a double rocks glass with one extra-large ice cube. Garnish with a lime wedge.
The Airedale
Ingredients
2.5 oz Bourbon
.75 oz Aperol
1 tsp simple syrup
Instructions
Combine in a mixing glass with ice and stir 10-15 seconds. Strain into chilled rocks glass over a large whiskey ice block. Garnish with grapefruit zest.
By Ky Belk of Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox in Denver.
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D.B. Cooper
Ingredients
.75 oz Trail’s End Whiskey
.74 oz Aperol
.75 oz Meletti amaro
.75 oz lemon juice
Instructions
Combine all ingredients into shaker. Shake with ice and double strain into glass.
From Red Star Tavern in Portland, Oregon.
MacNamara Rose
Ingredients
2 oz Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey
.75 oz Lillet Rosé
.5 oz Aperol
2 slices cucumber
1 pinch Kosher salt
Instructions
Muddle cucumber slices into a mixing glass. Add ice and all other ingredients. Stir and double strain into a coupe. Garnish with cucumber ribbon.
By Joaquín Simó of Pouring Ribbons
Strawberry Letter
Ingredients
.5 oz strawberry shrub*
1 oz Aperol
3 oz rosé wine
1 oz seltzer, to taste
Instructions
Build all ingredients except for seltzer in and ice-filled wine glass. Stir to combine and garnish with 4 strawberry slices
*Strawberry shrub: Wash 10 strawberries, remove tops and cut in quarters. Let sit in 2 cups of sugar overnight, then add 2 cups raspberry vinegar and stir to dissolve sugar. Put over heat in a sauce pan until boiling then immediately remove. Let cool, strain out berries and bottle liquid.
By Meaghan Dorman of Dear Irving on Hudson
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Turbo Lover
Ingredients
.5 oz Aperol
.5 oz Mr Black
.5 oz Ancho Reyes
Dash Cardamom bitters
Instructions
Build all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice.
From Nitecap in NYC.
Stay Gold Ponyboy, Stay Gold
Ingredients
2 oz. Buffalo Trace
.5 oz rosemary-infused Aperol*
.5 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
Instructions
Stir ingredients over ice; serve up. Garnish with rosemary sprig and lemon zest.
*Rosemary-infused Aperol: Place three stalks of fresh rosemary, approximately 10” long, into one 750 ml bottle of Aperol; let infuse at room temperature for three days.
By Benjamin Harris & Travis Sanders from Pennyroyal in Seattle.
Ammazzasete
Ingredients
1 oz Ketel Botanical Grapefruit Rose Vodka
1 dash Ramazzotti Rosato
.75 oz LoFi Dry Vermouth
.5 oz St. Germain
1 oz Vlado Prosecco
.5 oz lemon juice
.25 oz simple syrup
1 dash Hopped Grapefruit Bitter
Top with Club Soda
Instructions
Add all ingredients except club soda to a glass with ice. Stir well and top with club soda.
From Bar Feroce in NYC.
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Paper Plane
Ingredients
.75 oz Flor de Caña 7
.75 oz Aperol
.75 oz fresh Lemon Juice
.75 oz Amaro Nonino
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a coupe glass or a rocks over a large format ice cube. Garnish with a small origami paper plane.
Exene
Ingredients
1.5 oz Hudson Baby Bourbon
1 oz Aperol aperitif
.5 oz fresh lemon juice
.5 oz honey syrup
Half-dropper of Bittermens Elemakule Tiki Bitters
Instructions
Add all ingredients to shaker with ice, and shake to chill. Strain over rocks or top with club soda. For a fizz format, shake with 1 egg white or .75 oz aquafaba.
Lauren Hubbard
Writer
Lauren Hubbard is a freelance writer and Town & Country contributor who covers beauty, shopping, entertainment, travel, home decor, wine, and co*cktails.
