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An Aperol Spritz in a large wine glass with an orange slicePhoto by Gonzalo Acuña on Pexels
bittersweetrefreshingfruity

Aperol Spritz

Prosecco, Aperol and a splash of soda over ice — Italy's low-alcohol answer to the aperitif hour.

Difficulty
easy
Prep time
3 min
Strength
8.5% ABV
Glassware
Large wine glass
Base
liqueur led
Serves
1

Related drinks

Ingredients

  • Prosecco
    90ml
  • Aperol
    60ml
  • Soda water
    30ml

Garnish: Orange slice

Scale for a party

Method

  1. Fill a large wine glass with ice.
  2. Add the Aperol.
  3. Top with prosecco.
  4. Finish with a splash of soda water.
  5. Stir once, gently, and garnish with an orange slice.

Equipment

Don't have everything? Here's what works instead.

  • Jigger

    Household swap: A tablespoon measure (1 tbsp ≈ 15ml)

  • Bar spoon

    Household swap: A long-handled kitchen spoon

Missing an ingredient?

Each swap below says what it changes and how to correct for it, so you can decide whether you are making this drink or a neighbouring one.

  • Instead of Aperol

    Best substitute: Campari

    This is the bitter element in this drink.

    Quantity: Use the same amount

    Flavour impact: Campari is significantly more bitter and less sweet, producing a sharper, more grown-up Spritz.

    What changes

    Expect less sweetness, more bitterness, more intensity and more strength. Still a good drink, and a slightly different one.

    Sweetness ↓
    Less sweetness leaves the acid and the spirit more exposed, so the drink will taste sharper and drier than it should.
    Bitterness ↑
    Bitterness builds across a drink rather than announcing itself, so this will read as a longer, drier finish.
    Intensity ↑
    A more intensely flavoured ingredient will start to dominate the components around it.
    Strength ↑
    Campari is 25% ABV against 11%. A stronger bottle raises the alcohol in the finished drink and, with it, the perceived dryness and heat.
    Character
    you lose bittersweet, orange, light and approachable, and you gain bitter, herbal, citrusy and bold. Numbers can't see this: two ingredients can be identically sour and still smell nothing alike.

    To correct for it

    • Add a little more syrup, a small amount at a time, until the edges come back together.
    • Pour slightly less, or lengthen the drink a little, and let the sweetness catch up.
    • Scale it back by a third and let the other ingredients hold their share.
    • Pour a little less, or add slightly more dilution, to land where the recipe intended.
    Moderate confidenceA well-known variation, though it changes the balance considerably.Shifts the drinkBecomes a variation

  • Instead of Sparkling Wine

    Best substitute: Alcohol-Free Sparkling Wine (or Alcohol-Free Aperitif)

    This is the lengthener in this drink.

    Flavour impact: Using an alcohol-free sparkling wine and alcohol-free aperitif produces a much lighter, low-alcohol version.

    What changes

    Expect more sweetness and less intensity. Still a good drink, and a slightly different one.

    Sweetness ↑
    The drink will land sweeter, which also makes it read as less sharp and slightly heavier even though nothing else changed.
    Intensity ↓
    A milder ingredient gets buried by whatever else is in the glass, and the drink loses the thing it was named for.
    Character
    Both are crisp and effervescent, and you lose dry and bright, and you gain light and fruity. Numbers can't see this: two ingredients can be identically sour and still smell nothing alike.

    To correct for it

    • Cut the syrup or sugar back — start by halving it and taste before adding any back.
    • Increase the measure, or accept a gentler drink and reduce the components competing with it.
    Moderate confidenceA workable lighter alternative, though the flavour profile differs from Aperol's specific bitterness.Shifts the drinkBecomes a variation

Make it better

  • Build in the classic 3-2-1 ratio — prosecco, Aperol, soda — and pour gently to keep as much fizz as possible.
  • Use fresh, recently opened prosecco; it loses its liveliness quickly once the bottle has been open a while.
  • Don't stir too much — a light stir is enough, and it keeps the bubbles alive longer.
  • Add the carbonated mixer last, after shaking or stirring the rest, and pour gently to keep as much fizz as possible.

Rescue this drink

Too bitter
Add a touch more prosecco or soda water to soften it.
Tastes flat or dull
Use fresh, cold prosecco — it loses its character quickly once opened and left out.
Goes flat fast
Make one glass at a time rather than batching; the fizz doesn't hold well once mixed.
It is not as good by the time everyone has onegeneral guidance
This one does hold, within limits. Anything with fresh citrus in it starts dulling within a couple of hours, and anything carbonated is on a much shorter clock than that. Batch the stable part — spirits, sweeteners, bitters — ahead, add the citrus on the day, and the fizz at the moment of pouring. Adding the dilution to the batch matters too, or the first glass is right and the rest are progressively stronger.
Too weak or waterygeneral guidance
Add a splash more of the base spirit rather than extra mixer. For stirred or built drinks, over-dilution from ice is the usual cause — try a shorter stir or fewer, larger ice cubes.
Too sweetgeneral guidance
Add a small amount of fresh citrus juice or a dash of bitters to bring the balance back — adjust gradually and taste as you go.
Too sourgeneral guidance
Add a little more sweetener (simple syrup or the cocktail's usual sweetening ingredient), a small amount at a time.
Served too warmgeneral guidance
Chill the glass, ice and every ingredient ahead of time — a warm pour is the fastest way to lose a cold drink's balance. For one serving, there's no real fix beyond rebuilding it properly chilled; for a batch, keep everything refrigerated until the moment of serving and add ice last.
Missing the garnishgeneral guidance
No orange slice? An orange wheel or wedge both work fine in place of a full slice.

Make ahead & storage

Batch the base, finish at serving

Batch the base days ahead and add prosecco and soda water when you pour.

Prosecco:
Carbonated — it goes flat in a bottle, and there is no way to put the fizz back.
Soda water:
Carbonated — it goes flat in a bottle, and there is no way to put the fizz back.

Aperol and wine can be pre-chilled and combined in a jug ahead of a party — top individual glasses with soda water only at the moment of serving.

What it tastes like

The taste, and what drives it

off-dry, gentle, very light, sparkling — a bitter aperitif drink served long, over ice.

Off-dry

Dry → Sweet

Sweetened enough to take the edge off without reading as a sweet drink.

What drives it: Aperol — carries the most sugar into the glass.

Gentle

Soft → Sharp

A trace of acidity, there to lift rather than to be noticed.

What drives it: Prosecco — supplies the acidity.

Gently bitter

Gentle → Bitter

Bitterness as structure — it stops the drink tasting like squash without being the point.

What drives it: Aperol — provides the bitterness.

Very light

Light → Rich

Almost weightless in the mouth — closer to a long soft drink than to a sipper.

What drives it: Prosecco — adds most of the weight.

Very sparkling

Still → Sparkling

Carbonated, which lifts the aromatics and makes the drink taste drier than its sugar content alone would suggest.

What drives it: Prosecco — carries the carbonation.

Moderate

Delicate → Bold

Moderate: assertive enough to hold its own, mild enough for a second.

What drives it: Aperol — is the most concentrated thing in the glass.

What you smell first

  • Citrus peelLeads

    From Aperol, Orange slice

  • Orchard fruit

    From Prosecco

Every aroma here comes from the liquid itself; nothing is layered on top.

How it was worked out

Each reading comes from the recipe's own recorded taste scores combined with what each ingredient contributes, weighted by how much of it is in the glass. Almost everything in this drink has detailed ingredient data behind it.

How balance actually works →

If it isn't right

What goes wrong with this drink, and why

Only the faults this particular recipe is actually prone to — each with the likely cause, the adjustment, and what the adjustment costs you.

The fizz is the last thing in, and the first thing lost

Worth knowing

Carbonation escapes to warmth, agitation and anything it can cling to — pulp, sugar crystals, a dry glass wall.

How to handle it: Chill the mixer hard, pour it against the inside of the glass, add it last, and stir once at most.

  • It's too sweet

    Likely cause
    Aperol is carrying the sugar here, and it is the easiest thing in the drink to over-pour — syrup clings to a jigger and a "splash" is rarely the same twice.
    What to change
    Cut aperol by about a third and rebuild. If it is already made, a squeeze of citrus is faster than starting again.
    What that does
    It will taste drier and slightly thinner — sugar carries body as well as sweetness, so you lose a little weight along with it.

  • It's too bitter

    Likely cause
    Aperol is doing this deliberately, but bitterness also *builds* across a drink rather than announcing itself — the last mouthful is more bitter than the first even though nothing changed.
    What to change
    Lengthen it slightly, or add a small amount of sweetener. Do not add more of anything sour; acid sharpens bitterness rather than covering it.
    What that does
    The bitterness softens and the drink gets longer. If you were hoping to keep it short and strong, this is the trade you are making.

  • It tastes weak

    Likely cause
    Usually dilution rather than measurement: building in the glass adds water as it chills, and wet or small ice adds far more of it than cold, large ice does.
    What to change
    Use larger, colder ice and work faster. Adding more spirit fixes the symptom and unbalances everything else.
    What that does
    The drink gains definition without gaining sugar. It will also read as slightly sharper, which is what 'more presence' usually means in practice.

  • It's gone flat

    Likely cause
    Prosecco loses gas to warmth, to agitation and to anything it can nucleate against — pulp, sugar crystals, a dry glass.
    What to change
    Chill the mixer properly, add it last, pour it against the inside wall of the glass, and stir once at most.
    What that does
    The bubbles last, which also makes the drink taste drier — carbonation contributes a real acidity of its own on top of the lift.

  • It doesn't smell of anything

    Likely cause
    This drink's aroma comes from citrus peel and orchard fruit, carried in the liquid. Serving it too cold suppresses that: volatile compounds do not leave a very cold drink.
    What to change
    Let it sit for a minute before drinking, and use a glass that narrows towards the rim to concentrate what does escape.
    What that does
    More of the aroma escapes and the drink reads as more intense. The cost is temperature: a drink left to warm also dilutes faster, so this is a trade against how long it stays right.

  • It tastes one-dimensional

    Likely cause
    With 3 components there is nowhere for complexity to hide — a bitter aperitif drink is exposed by design, so a dull one is usually a dull ingredient rather than a missing step.
    What to change
    Change the quality of what is there before adding anything new: fresh citrus rather than bottled, a better base bottle, a dash of bitters. Bitters add layers at a scale nothing else matches.
    What that does
    More going on at the same strength and sweetness. Adding a whole extra ingredient instead usually produces a muddier drink rather than a deeper one.

Taste profile

Sweetness
2/5
Sourness
1/5
Bitterness
2/5
Strength
1/5
Fruitiness
2/5
Freshness
4/5
Creaminess
0/5
Smokiness
0/5

Nutrition & alcohol

Estimate onlyBased on the standard 3-2-1 build; brand of prosecco affects sweetness slightly.
Calories
150 kcal
Sugar
11 g
Carbohydrates
13 g
Alcohol units (UK)
1.74
US standard drinks
0.96
ABV
8.5%
Serving size
200 ml
Show calculation assumptions

Source: Calculated from standard measures

Calorie breakdown: ~94 kcal from alcohol, ~56 kcal from sugar and mixers.

Likely range: 113–188 kcal, reflecting the confidence level above — not a lab-measured figure.

Assumes prosecco at 12% ABV and Aperol at 11% ABV.

These figures are estimates, not laboratory measurements — individual tolerance to alcohol varies. See our responsible drinking guidance.

Variations

  • Prefer it alcohol-free?

    Try the Alcohol-Free Spritz, built to carry the same flavour without any alcohol.

  • Campari Spritz

    Replace the Aperol with Campari for a drier, more bitter version.

  • Limoncello Spritz

    Replace the Aperol with limoncello for a sweeter, more citrus-forward drink.

What kind of drink this is

The structure behind the recipe

A built build: a bitter aperitif liqueur-led-based drink, served long, over ice — sparkling in the mouth.

Bitter aperitif

A bittering component sits alongside the base in a full measure rather than seasoning it — bitterness is a main flavour here, not a background note.

  • Modifier

    Soda water

    A short measure of mixer — too small to lengthen the drink, so it flavours it instead.

  • Bitter element

    Aperol

    Liqueur with high recorded bitterness (3/5) — the bitter element.

  • Lengthener

    Prosecco

    Sparkling wine, beer or cider — lengthens and lifts.

Drinks built this way are collected as the Spritz family.

3 components' roles areworked out from the ingredient's category and recorded taste attributes rather than set by hand — the reasoning is shown above so you can disagree with it.

Technique

built

Components are poured into the serving glass over ice and stirred once, or not at all. Dilution happens while you drink rather than before.

The drink changes as you go: strongest at the first sip, longest and most diluted at the last. That drift is a feature of a long drink and a fault in a short one.

What it ruins: Nothing, but it cannot properly combine anything viscous — a syrup poured last will sit at the bottom.

Also involves batching.

Everything about building in the glass →How the technique works →

Dilution

In the glass, as you drink

Water from ice typically makes up around 15% of the finished drink for a built build (commonly 10–20%). Dilution is an ingredient here, not a side effect.

Why dilution is an ingredient →

Served

Long, over ice

Large wine glass · 200ml

Served on ice, so it keeps chilling in the glass. A larger, colder, slower drink than the same spirits served straight up.

Texture and aroma

SparklingAperol

Carbonation lifts aromatics and adds a slight acidity of its own, which is why a long drink can taste drier than its sugar content suggests.

These components are doing aromatic work: you meet them at the nose before the first sip, and they shape how everything underneath reads.

Where to go from here

Each of these is here because of something specific about this drink, not as a standard set of links.

Where it comes from

Origin and family

Origin of the Aperol Spritz

Northern Italian, evolved from 19th-century Veneto spritz traditions, with Aperol itself introduced in the 1950s.

Family

Spritz

3 parts sparkling wine · 2 parts bitter aperitif · 1 part soda — built over ice, in a big glass.

The wider history

Every claim on these pages is labelled by how well the evidence supports it — documented, disputed, or folklore.

Try this next

Use up your ingredients

Bought a bottle just for this? Here's what else it's good for.

Related tools

Scale this for a party

Work out bottles, mixers, ice and total alcohol units for any number of guests.

Recipe confidence

The 3-2-1 ratio is widely and consistently documented.

High confidence