Aperol: 3.4 Million Italians A Day Can’t Be Wrong
By Jay Erisman, EQ Wine & Spirits Manager
With the thermometer soaring to a ridiculous 96 degrees this weekend, I know what I’ll be reaching for in the shade: a bottle of Aperol, Italy’s amazingly appetizing rhubarb bitter liqueur. Aperol claims that over three million Italians drink it every day. I think they’re on to something…
Aperol is one of the members of the large family of Italian bitter liqueurs. (Jaegermeister is a distant cousin.) These range from the very bitter and nearly undrinkable Fernet, to the rich bittersweetness of Amaro, to Aperol, the lightest and easiest of this category. All these liqueurs derive a refreshing bitter quality from ingredients like gentian root, angelica, and cinchona (the source of quinine, the cure for malaria and the agent responsible for the refreshing tang of tonic water).
Aperol has a touch of bittering gentian, and a little ginger as well. The magic ingredient is rhubarb, which lends its own tartness to the mix. On top of that brew, Aperol is bottled up at just 11% alcohol, making for a light and easy-drinking summer mixer. It’s also a cult favorite among mixologists, where its gentle tang plays nice with rye whiskey, gin and aquavit in many creative cocktails. Check out the Bella Taormina below, a gorgeous cocktail suggested to me by a mixologist customer.
Try Aperol on the rocks, with tonic or soda, homemade lemonade, orange juice, and sparkling wine or water. Pile the glass high with ice, squint into the Cincinnati sun, and raise your glass…adding one American Aperol to your three million friends in Italy.
Bella Taormina (from Salvatore Calabrese’s book “Complete Home Bartender’s Guide” [thanks, Paul M.!])
1oz gin
2/3 oz Aperol
1/2 oz limoncello
1/2 oz Mandarine Napoleon
2/3 oz fresh orange juice
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cape gooseberry and you’ve really got yourself something special.