Aperol is an Italian aperitif, which contains both sweet and bitter orange, rhubarb, few herbs and roots. It’s very low alcohol as a bitter, just 11%. Aperol has the same amount of sugar as Campari (250g/litre) but as it’s much less bitter it tastes much sweeter. Aperol was invented in 1919 in Padova, Italy, after seven years of development. It is produced by Barbieri Company, which nowadays it’s owned by Gruppo Campari. Aperol was a famous drink already after the second world war, but its worldwide reputation has been greatly boosted by sales to Campari. Nowadays it is the most sold alcohol in Gruppo Campari, bringing itself 13% of the annual sales.

Most well known Aperol cocktail is Spritz Veneziano (Aperol Spritz) where is Aperol, prosecco and soda water. It’s usually bottled in a 100cl bottle, which I found discounted to 12€. 

Aperol is sweet, slightly bitter, thick but very smooth. It’s less bitter and herbal than many other operatives, which probably is caused by mass production nowadays. Often original recipes are forced to change when the sales quantities are rising fast. Anyway Aperol is so less bitter than it suits very well for those also not used to bitter drinks. That’s maybe the reason why Aperol has become so popular world wide. When drinking neat it’s way too sweet, so it’s only use is to be a mixer for different drinks.

77/100