What better way to kanpai (cheers) to the end of summer than with the sunset hue of a refreshing spritz.
This simple Italian aperitivo, a premeal drink, has a long history in northern Italy, but only within the past decade has it secured global dominance as summer’s go-to brunch drink.
The origin of the spritz can be traced to Austria’s 19th-century occupation of Venice during the Napoleonic Wars. The ruling Habsburgs were not used to the strong wines of the region and would ask the locals to add a spritz of water to dilute the drink. This lasted until the advent of modern cocktail culture in the 1920s, when Italian bitters such as Campari, Aperol and Select were spritzed into now-standard cocktails like the Negroni and Americano. While it can be found on many drink menus today, the Aperol Spritz was only officially recognized as a cocktail by the International Bartenders Association in 2011.
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