Aperol Spritz Cocktail

Aperol Spritz Cocktail – an easy three ingredient cocktail that gets a festive flair from all the bubbles!   A favorite Prosecco cocktail with Aperol and club soda, so delicious and so pretty to look at!

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What is Aperol?

If you haven’t added Aperol to your bar, you need to.  It is an Italian apértif, made of gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona among other ingredients.  It has a gorgeous orange color and a unique bitter taste.  I love the flavor that it adds to cocktails.

You might notice that it looks a lot like Campari.  They are similar and I love them both.   Some consider Aperol a bit more approachable.   It has a lower alcohol content and a softer flavor.

So, when I saw that an Aperol Spritz Cocktail has only 3 ingredients, I knew that it would let all that wonderful Aperol flavor shine through.

Aperol Spritz Perfect for Holidays!

I first discovered the Aperol Spritz because I was looking for a festive bubbly cocktail for New Year’s Eve.

I don’t know about you, but one of the problems I have with New Year’s Eve is that it involves hours of drinking.  If you start your evening at say eight o’clock – it’s still four hours before your champagne toast at midnight.

I’m fairly lightweight when it comes to drinking, too many and I get sleepy.  I’m not a fun partier, I am a sleepy partier.  I had already decided that instead of champagne we were having Prosecco.  I like Prosecco so much more than champagne – it has more of the qualities of wine that I like.

I used my favorite LaMarca Prosecco, which I happened to buy only because I liked the Tiffany blue colored label, but ended up loving it.

Aperol Spritz Cocktail

The best part is how easy this delicious cocktail is!  Only 3 ingredients (4 if you count the orange garnish.)  The only tricky thing is proportions.  Everyone agrees that you need more Prosecco than Aperol, but some had you just top the glass with club soda and some had equal portions of club soda.

What I loved is that as the night went on, I could make it a little heavier on the club soda.

You don’t even need a cocktail shaker!  Just place ice cubes in a low ball glass.   Add Prosecco, Aperol and club soda and stir.   Garnish with an orange slice.

Looking for more sparkling wine cocktails:

My favorite Prosecco used again in this Violette Royale Cocktail!

Because mornings need fun cocktails too – a Grapefruit Mimosa.

Another gorgeous cocktail with bubbles – Negroni Sbagliato.

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Update Notes: This was originally published in 2013 and has been updated for 2018.