In 1919, a few months after the end of the first global conflict, at the Padua International Fair, the Barbieri brothers launched what would become one of the most popular light liqueurs in the world. The inimitable original recipe of Aperol, that has never been changed nor revealed, provides for the balance between a low alcohol content (11%) and a mix of herbs and roots that make it both full-bodied and lively, a perfect taste to be the backbone of important cocktails.
Distributed in dozens of countries around the world, Aperol is one of those Italian products that, for its taste and image have made history. In fact, the orange drink has always been sold in unmistakable art nouveau bottles, a new version of which has been introduced in 2017 in preparation of the 100th anniversary celebrated this year. Its ultimate success arrived thanks to the first TV commercials in the 1960s with the claim “Ah Aperol” – Like for all brilliant advertising intuitions, very few replicas of the spot were enough to ensure that the claim was reproduced by customers in all the bars.
Further along the line, in the 1980s, it enjoyed a revival in popularity thanks to the spread of the historical Venetian aperitif which became the ‘Aperol Spritz’. Today this cocktail is the most famous among wine-based drinks and among the best sellers in the world, a traditional ice-breaker, and symbol of a lively atmosphere, becoming one of the most popular aperitifs among young, as well as mature, people. And, although, Aperol was not among the original ingredients of the Spritz, its role has become so defining that, today, wanting to put in the glass a creative variant of the cocktail, Aperol is always taken as a point of reference and never dropped.
Cover photo: Marco Verch
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