Write what you know. I don’t know who originally said it, probably a case of simultaneous thinking or misrepresentation, anyway. It’s what I try to do every time I sit in front of this blank white screen in attempt to publish some informational and entertaining content about Tiki or cocktails at large. It’s my art; And, it’s scary everytime. I used to quip that a blank page was my favorite thing because it could be anything. The story all there just waiting to be teased out. Now, with age, wisdom, and a greater than zero percentage of anxiety, a blank page can be frightening. So, write what you know.
I started this podcast by relaying stories of my personal life and travels as they regard tropical drinks. What am I? I am a third generation Italian-American who grew up half in New York and half in Florida who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. I also embody all of the cultural and geographical influences that come with each of those locales. I’m a fan of Hemingway, Jimmy Buffett, the Beatles. My favorite show is Californiacation and I lean toward movies like Pulp Fiction, the Godfather, and anything to do with superheroes. My father instilled in me a love for Abbot & Costello and as a man I’ve grown to love any Bogart classic. Jazz, reggae, punk rock, 90’s rap - I was a teenager in the 90’s, after all.
Therefore, like most of you, I’m sure, when I think about why I like something the impetus of such is a multifaceted prism through which my reality is painted. One of my favorite things is sitting outside at a cafe table talking to my wife or a good friend. Perhaps with a cigar billowing out from under my sweat-stained wide brimmed panama hat.
Wherever you are in the world I hope it’s pleasant. Here in the southeast United States July it is brutally, but welcomingly, hot. A lot of American lager and Kentucky’s finest were recently consumed in celebration of our country’s Independence Day. Now, it’s time to cool off and relax with a drink that combines my ethnic heritage, love for outdoor tippling, passion for good drink, and acknowledgement of recent trends.
Please don’t misinterpret this intro as defending a guilty pleasure. I don’t have any. For I am not guilty about any of my pleasures. Thus, this libation has recently become a favorite of mine. I’ve sipped it in the cool reprieve of a hip 70’s themed bar, with my wife and some good friends as afternoon descended into evening on the patio of an upscale Italian eatery, at a favorite brunch spot after church on Sundays. I said it, I meant it, I’m here to represent it. I love Aperol Spritz.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tony, and this is Pod Tiki.
In the last few years it seems Americans have discovered what Europeans, especially Italians, have been hip to for almost one hundred years - whether poolside, patio, or sidewalk cafe, for an Aperol spritz there’s no bad time of day. (Hey, Aperol, you can have that one for free if you sponsor the show!)
When I think Aperol Spritz I’m imagining an umbrella’d cafe table beside a stone bridge arching over a Venetian canal. A gentleman in white tapered dress pants, hem just above the ankle, canvas espadrilles… (the imaginary man shoots me a glare of contempt. “What am I, some bohemian gypsy?!) Ok, let’s change those for some leather driving loafers. Matching belt. Baby blue linen shirt and the brim of a fedora alit upon a pair of tortoise shell sunglasses. No matter where or when I’m sipping one, that’s the attitude I affect in my mind.
When it comes to Tiki I’m proud to say we’ve left our antiquated views of masculinity burning in the flaming fruit garnish of so many Zombies. In fact, I think I left mine back in the 90’s in some kind of neon appletini. We would be remiss not to mention that there was a time when a red drink on ice from a wine glass would garner a few snickers from your plumber buddies at happy hour, but in its native Italy the Aperol Spritz is a common libation for elevenses, lunch, after work, pre-dinner, pretty much anytime if you catch my drift. I’m glad to see it’s catching on in the same way here.
I’ve been tacitly in love with bitter amaros since way back in the Negroni episode. This summer Aperol and all its spritz riffs have been my go to. This has personally been the summer of Spritz!
Apparently, I’m not the only one. Aperol has recently surpassed its cousin Campari in sales. My theory is because its lower alcohol content allows for daytime or pre-dinner tippling that won’t have you wasted by the time your salad arrives. However, this recent resurgence is nothing new. For the beginnings of the Aperol Spritz we go back to the year of our Lord 1919, Padua, Italy.
I love when there’s an agreed upon origin for a drink. Indeed, a bit of animus makes things interesting. But, these nice, easy ones are a treat. I can spend less time researching history and more time tasting drinks. My information comes directly from the Aperol website as well as being corroborated by other frequent sources.
First let’s talk about what exactly Aperol is. Aperol is in the amaro family of bittersweet liqueurs. Its profile and reddish hue are similar to Campari, though, it’s less bitter, lighter in color, and lower in alcohol. Some of the ingredients we know are gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona. The name Aperol is derived from a French word for aperitif - apero. Aperitif, or aperitivo in Italian, is basically a pre-dinner cordial designed to warm up the palate, but it’s also become a ritual in Italian culture in which we’re reminded to slow down and live. Memento mori! Aperitivo is often enjoyed alongside small bites called cicchetti. (chikehtee)
In 1912, Luigi and Silvio Barbieri started messing around in their father’s distillery. After 7 years of experimentation they landed on the recipe for Aperol. I assume this was a side project, seven years seems like a long time. I’m picturing the brothers sneaking into the distillery after hours, big bushy Italian mustaches, whisper arguing in exaggerated gesticulations over trying to pick the lock when one of them remembers they have the keys.
After the World Wars, when people began frequenting pubs and cafes around Padua and Venice, the popularity of Aperol took off gangbusters. It wouldn’t be long before a legend was born. I found one source who credits the invention of the Aperol Spritz to a bartender named Raimondo Ricci in 1919. I presume this apocryphal, but felt inclined to include it just in case. It sounds to me like the source had some information and dates conflated. The truth is no one person invented the drink because spritzes were around way before Aperol.
It came to pass in the 1800’s, during Habsburg rule of Venetia, when Austria controlled most of what is now northern Italy, that while the empire’s soldiers and merchants took to hanging out in Venetian bars, they didn’t like how sweet Italian wines were. They would’ve been drinking a sparkling white akin to modern prosecco. They also had a hard time with the alcohol content. The only thing worse than monarchical foreigners pervading your bars is when they can’t hold their liquor. Reminds me of spring break at Daytona Beach. The Autrians began asking for a spray, or spritzen, of water to lighten the wine. Thus, an original spritz was sparkling wine with water.
Between 1920 and 1930, directly correlating with the advent of Aperol, bitters began being added and soda water was used to spritz it up. If you recall our Negroni episode, this is purportedly when that drink came into existence, as well. Even though our old friend Gaspare Campari invented his elixir back in 1860.
In the 1950’s Aperol became the go-to aperitivo for spritz thanks to a television show that debuted in 1957. Il Carosello, featured sketch comedy, animated shorts and puppetry. It also featured the first commercial for Aperol. Soon taverns and cafes hung bright orange posters advertising the local spritz all over Italy. This brilliant marketing helped the brand spread like melted parmesan over a veal cutlet.
Much like the dark ages of western Europe, the dark ages of cocktails spanning the 1980’s and 90’s did have some fortuitous tides. This is when Aperol Spritz and its drunk uncle Negroni made their way across the Atlantic to the U.S. of A. Call it shrewd business acumen or latching on to the younger rising star, but in 2003 Gruppo Campari acquired Aperol folding it into its prodigious portfolio. Don’t you just love the term ‘acquired’ in business? It makes it sound so amiable. Like, “Oh, look, I found this highly successful brand just hanging out in Venice. I don’t know, somebody must’ve left it behind. We certainly didn’t pay an absurd amount of money the likes of which most of the world’s population can’t even imagine, no.” I wonder if I could get away with that with my wife? “Honey, I acquired this bottle of exclusive Jamaican rum. It was just sitting there on the shelf! No, no. That charge is not a purchase, it’s an acquisition!”
In 2019 Aperol officially surpassed Campari in sales. In no small part due to the brunch and day drinking craze. Aperol Spritz is delightful, crisp, and sessionable. Coming in at 11% ABV, Aperol is the perfect companion for a sweet sparkling wine. Which brings us to the second prevalent ingredient in this tippling triumvirate.
Prosecco is an Italian sparkling white wine. Much like its relative, Champagne, to be called Prosecco it must come from the eponymous village in Trieste, Italy and made from the prosecco grape. This is under the auspices of the Italian DOC - Denominazione de Origine. Much like its French counterpart which not only sets guidelines for wine and brandy, but all our favorite rhums produced on French owned Caribbean islands like Martinique.
Prosecco comes in 2 main varieties. Extra Dry, which is actually the sweeter version, and Brut, a drier variety. Later, we’ll discuss how each fares in a Spritz.
As far as history? Well, Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, mentions a wine called Ribolla, back in the sixteenth century being produced in the region of Trieste. It was hailed by the wife of Emperor Augustus for its medicinal qualities. I concur. After the headache you get from drinking too much sweet wine some more sweet wine does indeed make you feel better.
The wine was a favorite of the Pucinian, a social class of higher learning, and became known as Pucinum. Later it was renamed castellum nobile vinum Pucinum after a nearby castle. The first mention of it being called Prosecco came in 1593 when an Enghlishmen by the name of Fynes Moryson visiting northern Italy recorded, “Here grows the wine Pucinum, now called Prosecho, much celebrated by Pliny." And the rest is literal history.
Like Aperol, Prosecco has enjoyed a popularity boom thanks to its association with brunch, proliferated by middle-class millennial white girls in sundresses getting wasted at noon on a Sunday. If only Orwell knew this would be the new Americana.
In 2019, Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The latest news is that in 2020 the DOC allowed a rosé version of Prosecco. A million “wooo’s” rang out from 30 year old sorority girls.
The last ingredient we have to mention of course is the “spritz” that started it all. Which also brings us to the controversy of the episode. Okay, I made this controversy up. You see, every recipe I see calls for soda water, but I feel like an Italian sparkling water like San Pelligrino would be more appropriate. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times; there is a difference between soda water and sparkling mineral water. The bubbles in soda water are harder and more carbonated, whereas sparkling water is softer. Both are acceptable based on preference, but, of course, It wouldn’t be Pod Tiki if I didn’t have an opinion.
Made with an Extra Dry, or sweet, Prosecco, the bitterness I enjoy about amaro is lost in a cloying sweetness. When using sparkling water that diminished bitterness and overpowering sweetness is accentuated. It loses the crisp, airiness, a spritz is known for. In this case the hard carbonation of soda water actually helps to mitigate the saccharine overtones. Aside from the balance being off there was something missing.
When I switched to Brut Prosecco I found it. A dryer wine allows the rich earthiness of Aperol to come forward. One can tell there’s a wine in there, but it’s not overbearing. Crisp apple and pear notes. In fact, it delicately provides a scaffold for amaro to cling to.
Its burnt off-orange color is festive and elicits a relaxed happiness that invites one to slow down and enjoy the still vibrance otherwise mundane. It gives me a feeling of idle sophistication no matter what the setting.
A wheel of orange or lemon usually perches itself upon the rim of the large bowl of the stemmed wine glass. Personally, I prefer a lemon. It adds an olfactory freshness as the nose breaches the bowl. A little unexpected treat for the senses. Plus, it feels a little more Italian to use lemon. Toss 4-5 pieces of cubed ice in there and voila!
Here it is, the officially recognized recipe:
3 oz Prosecco Brut
2 oz Aperol
1 oz Sparkling Water
4-5 cubed ice
Add all ingredients to a red wine glass, preferably with a large bowl, and give a quick stir. The Aperol company is adamant about rendering the perfect orange color so much that it gives a guide to go by on the label. Garnish with that lemon wheel and enjoy!
The first sip is a divine sparkly gestalt of flavor. Crisp, effervescent, fruity, bitter-sweet, earthy, cool. If you can’t tell, I really love this drink. It is, at its core, a wine beverage. Aperol acts as a flavor enhancer. Personally, I prefer more amaro flavor. That combined with the fact that the drink is usually enjoyed outdoors in warm weather, as it dilutes it loses flavor quick. By the end it tasted watery and bland. I solved this by increasing the Aperol from the traditional 2oz to 2.25oz. This simple adjustment keeps the flavor not only throughout the drink, but decreases the chances of flavor fatigue if you care to have more than one, or two, or three or - okay, okay! My name is Tony, and I am an Aperolaholic.
They’re just so damn delicious and easy to make. However, another part of the appeal is that the drink manages to uphold a level of leisurely aplomb and dignity for being an orange drink served in a wine glass with fruit garnish. In Italy Aperol Spritz is not just a drink, but a state of mind. Here in the states it brings some class back to brunch or Sunday dinner. And if you think spritzes aren’t manly I got a few cousins up north that, “jus’ wanna have a little tawk witchu, eh?”
What makes Aperol Spritz a great daytime or pre-dinner drink is that it gives the impression of good things to come. Lots of bars, lounges, cafes and restaurants have created their own spritz recipes that include juices, other liqueurs, and different types of wine. Some of them are actually really good, too. But one thing remains constant. Aperol, Prosecco, and sparkling water is the perfect combo for a linen shirt, tiny shorts, a straw fedora, loafers and some wayfarers sitting at a cafe table. A look I call Puttin’ on the Spritz.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tony and this has been Pod Tiki.
Sources: Liquor.com, Aperol.com, wikipedia.com, wineenthusiast.com, Everything You Need To Know About Prosecco by Lauren Mowery, foundinitaly.com