Italian Scoops: Spritz!

Every vacation needs a signature cocktail. And the cocktail for our honeymoon was the Aperol Spritz. Or just Spritz, as we called it — a fizzy, citrusy, electric orange cocktail that pairs especially well with a swimming pool.

Aperol is an apertif made with orange peel and herbs. It’s kind of like a less bitter Campari — and if you’re like me and suffered your way through those bitter Negronis just because you wanted to look cool, the Aperol Spritz will be your very best friend. In fact, just two weeks before our trip, the New York Times published a story about how hot the trendy tangerine-hued cocktail is in the states (they also published a similar story in 2010, go figure).

According to the Aperol website, this is the official recipe:

3 parts Prosecco 2 parts Aperol 1 splash of soda or seltzer Pour over ice in a large wine glass Add slice of orange

But we welcomed improvisations. You can drink Aperol with pretty much anything, as we would discover. I even ordered a Spritz Bull, with, yes, Red Bull.