Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Spritzalicious

Another Aperol drink tonight.  The Aperol Spritz.  Effervescent, refreshing, with the mild bitterness and orange essence of the Aperol balancing any sweetness from the Prosecco.

Given that we returned from the cool northwest last night, to steamy 95 degree Austin, a refreshing drink after work was definitely in order.  Summer has officially begun here in Texas!

This one is super easy, folks, and well worth keeping a bottle of prosecco and aperol around for.

Aperol Spritz

2 parts Aperol
3 Parts Prosecco
Splash of Soda

Mix all ingredients on ice.



Imagine yourself sitting outside on St. Marks Square in Venice, watching the people and pigeons wander around, sipping this delicious ditty!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Messing with classics

In a recent post, I mentioned the Negroni and how my second opinion was that it was quite good.  Then I discovered Aperol, and decided I might want to play around with the two amari spirits.  So, a riff on the Negroni that was slight less bitter but not any less delicious:

Makes 2 drinks:

4 oz Tanqueray 10
2 oz Dolin sweet vermouth
2 oz Campari
2 oz Aperol

Stir on ice, serve up in a coupe with a twist.



Saturday, June 1, 2013

Simply Siesta

With the renewed interest in Campari, I also decided to try my hand at some Aperol concoctions.  Made by the same company, Aperol is a bit lighter booze wise, a little less bitter, and maybe a bit fruitier.  Sign me up.

This recipe is in the PDT Cocktail book, and calls for Campari, but knowing my tastebuds and having just purchased a bottle of Aperol, and because I am pathologically prohibited from following a recipe exactly as written, I substitued Aperol for the Campari.  It was delicious, and had a nice bitter undertone without being too powerful.  That being said, I think I will try the next one with Campari just to taste the difference.

I suspect with more bitter grapefruit juice, the Aperol might lend itself well, but our grapefruits in Texas are much more sweet than bitter, so the Campari might add the bitter complexity the drink needs.

I would definitely make this again, but I have moved on to the Aperol spritz as the go to summer drink, as it is not too boozy and is very refreshing....another post indeed.



Siesta

2 oz silver tequila
1/2 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1/2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz Campari (I used Aperol)

Stir or shake over ice, strain into a coupe.  Garnish optional.

Enjoy!