What is an Aperol Spritz?Italy's orange aperitivo, and how we pour it at Fiena, King's Cross

Aperol is an Italian bitter apéritif. It's made with gentian, rhubarb and cinchona, among other ingredients, and it has a clear orange colour. The name comes from apero, a French slang word for apéritif.

It was created in 1919 in Padua by Luigi and Silvio Barbieri, after seven years of experiments. It only became really popular after the Second World War. Today it's produced by the Campari Group. Aperol is sweeter than Campari, and at 11% alcohol it's less than half as strong. Background from Wikipedia's Aperol page.

A spritz is an Italian wine-based cocktail, usually drunk as an aperitivo. In its modern form it mixes Prosecco, soda water and a bitter or syrup. The idea is older than Aperol. Under Habsburg rule in Veneto in the 1800s, visitors from the north found the local wine strong, and asked hosts to spritzen — spray — a little water into it.

Between the 1920s and 1930s, in Venice and Padua, bitter aperitifs were added. Aperol was born in Padua in 1919; Select, the bitter in the original Venetian spritz, was created in Venice in 1920. The modern recipe, with Prosecco instead of still wine, settled in the 1970s. Since 2011 the spritz has been an IBA official cocktail, and National Spritz Day falls on 1 August. By 2019 the Aperol Spritz was ranked the world's ninth bestselling cocktail. Background from Wikipedia's spritz page.

The IBA's official spritz recipe is 9 cl Prosecco, 6 cl Aperol and a splash of soda, usually over ice with a slice of orange. There's no single composition across Italy — Venice still favours Select — but the orange Aperol version is the one that travelled furthest.

Our Aperol spritz is Aperol, prosecco and soda water. It sits with the other long aperitivo drinks on the list:

• Campari spritz: Campari, prosecco and soda — drier and more bitter.
• Limoncello spritz: limoncello, prosecco and soda — brighter and more lemony.
• Hugo spritz: elderflower syrup, fresh mint, prosecco and soda.

Cocktails are made with a 50ml spirit measure; alcoholic drinks are served from 10:30. See our posts on the Campari spritz, limoncello, aperitivo hour and drinking outside on Judd Street.

A spritz loves small plates from the main menu: Padron peppers with flaked sea salt, Arancini mushroom with saffron sauce, Bruschetta with marinated plum tomatoes, or Baby calamari with tartar sauce. Or share a Caprese or the Goat cheese salad. See Padron peppers, arancini and calamari.

Guests come for the drinks as much as the food. Katelyn wrote: Best aperol spritz and spaghetti bolognaise I’ve had in a while! (Katelyn, Google review)

“Amazing drinks, amazing food, amazing music!”

Leni, Google reviews, 2026