Aperitif cocktails
12 drinks in Barello's library use aperitif. Each one lists what it needs, so you can see at a glance which are already within reach.
What cocktail can I make with aperitif?
Barello's library has 12 cocktails that use aperitif. The ones needing the fewest other bottles are Campari Soda, Garibaldi and Milano-Torino. Every recipe below lists exactly what it takes, so you can see which are already within reach.
About aperitif
What it is
A drink taken before a meal to sharpen the appetite rather than blunt it. Bitter, usually lower in alcohol than a spirit, and meant to be drunk slowly while you decide what to eat. One is an aperitif and several are aperitifs; the Italians say aperitivo, and use the same word for the hour as for the drink.
Where it came from
Turin and Milan in the nineteenth century. Antonio Benedetto Carpano made the first modern vermouth in Turin in 1786, and Gaspare Campari mixed his bitter in Milan around 1860. The Milano-Torino, which is nothing but those two poured over ice, is named for exactly that.
Worth knowing
Campari is the bitter benchmark, ruby and properly bracing. Aperol is lighter, sweeter and roughly half the strength, which is why a Spritz made with it is an afternoon drink and one made with Campari is not. Vermouth is aromatised fortified wine, sweet as rosso, dry as French, or bianco in between. Every drink in this group takes a red bitter, so any of them can be dialled up or down by which one you reach for.
The aperitif list 12
Americano
Bicicletta
Boulevardier
Campari Soda
Corpse Reviver #2
Garibaldi
Jungle Bird
Milano-Torino
Negroni
Negroni Sbagliato
Spritz
Vesper
Deciding what to buy? What every home bar needs counts which bottles open the most drinks, and the two-bottle table says which pairs genuinely combine.
Looking for an app that does this on your phone? We ranked the cocktail apps, including ours, by their real store ratings.
Work it the other way round. Tick every bottle you own, not just the aperitif, and Barello lists what you can make tonight.
What cocktail can I make?