The Aperol Spritz

Aperol is an orange flavored, slightly bitter liquor, very much like Campari. Italian in origin, it differs from Campari in it's more muted color (pink-orange, not bright red like Campari) and in its much less bitter taste compared to that other famous Italian spirit. Where as Campari comes on strong and then lingers on the palette for a good long time, Aperol gives you a quick, sweet hit and then finishes with a subtle bitterness which fades relatively quickly.


Spritzes as a drink type are typically just spirits that are combined with sparkling wine (traditionally, given its Italian origins, the Aperol Spritz uses Prosecco) and soda. There are other variations (adding water to stronger wines are sometimes known as straight spritzes), but this is the most common. I used Spanish cava as the sparkling wine - mainly because I had some left over from the Redskins game last week. It actually went very well, adding a slight sweetness to the whole drink which made it really refreshing and easy to drink.

Aperol Spritz

2 oz sparkling wine (prosecco or cava)
1.5 oz Aperol
splash of soda

Fill a cocktail glass with ice. Pour sparking wine first and then Aperol into the glass (add the Aperol second so it doesn't sink to the bottom), and then finish with splash of soda. Garnish with an orange slice.

The Gemini

Martha Stewart gets a bad rap, in my opinion. The woman may be a control freak, bitchy beyond reason, and involved in elaborate but horribly covered up securities fraud, but she does know how to do the finer things in life. We started getting "Martha Stewart Living" as a replacement for a magazine that we really like that went under. Initially, we thought we had just gained one more thing to recycle every month. But there's some good stuff in there - maybe I don't need to know how to knit my own plastic bag holder, but I can use a good grilling tip - or cocktail recipe - any day, and I ain't picky about the source.

The Gemini is a great example of something from the Martha Stewart brand - relatively simple, but with top notch ingredients, and somewhat exotic. The key ingredient to this cocktail is St-Germain, an elderflower liquer that tastes like....well, it tastes like a whole bunch of things at once. Grapefruit, lemon, lime, roses...it's all over the place. But it's REALLY good - definitely worth it as an addition to those "weird" liquers that pile up in the back of your liquor cabinet. But this one is so good, you might actually break it out every now and again. This cocktail would be GREAT as a substitute to a mimosa or bellini at a brunch (especially for those that like grapefruit juice).

The Gemini

4 ounces fresh grapefruit juice, strained to remove pulp
3 ounces St-Germain liquer
2 ounces vodka (Stoli)
ice cubes
Prosecco (any sparkling wine will do)
2 grapefruit-rind twists

Mix juice, St-Germain, vodka, and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into two chilled glasses. Top each with Prosecco. Garnish with grapefruit twists. Makes 2 cocktails.