● Easy 4 min
Americano
A light aperitif with bitter liqueur, vermouth and soda.
Quick answer: 30 ml red bitter liqueur • 30 ml sweet vermouth
Recipes
Aperitif cocktails
Aperitif recipes: Aperol Spritz, Negroni Sbagliato, Americano, vermouth spritz. Light pre-dinner drinks with simple ratios.
BrandBar Editorial Team
Content prepared and tested by BrandBar's professional bartending team.
An aperitif is a drink taken before food, and its job is to wake the appetite rather than to intoxicate. Bitterness and low strength therefore dominate the category: bitter orange liqueur, vermouth, sparkling wine and soda instead of a strong base.
The basic spritz formula is simple enough to memorise on first hearing: 3 parts sparkling wine, 2 parts bitter aperitif, 1 part soda, ice and a half-slice of orange. Swapping the aperitif within that ratio yields completely different drinks — from light and citrussy to frankly bitter.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the ratio in an Aperol Spritz?
The classic 3-2-1: 90 ml prosecco, 60 ml Aperol, 30 ml soda. Fill the glass with ice, pour in that order, stir once and add a half-slice of orange.
What can replace prosecco in a spritz?
Any dry sparkling wine, from a Ukrainian brut to cava. What matters is that it is dry — sweet sparkling wine alongside the liqueur makes the drink cloying.
What is a Negroni Sbagliato?
A Negroni with the gin replaced by sparkling wine. Equal parts bitter aperitif, sweet vermouth and prosecco over ice — roughly a third of the strength of a classic Negroni.
Other bases
GinRumWhiskeyVodkaTequilaCognac & brandyLiqueursBitters & infusionsAbsinthe & sambucaSparkling & wineCoffeeLemonadesAlcohol-free
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