🥃 Aperitif
An aperitif is a light dry or bittersweet drink taken before a meal: vermouth, dry sherry, red bitters, or a Spritz or Negroni. From Latin aperire, “to open”. A custom rather than an EU category.
An aperitif (aperitivo in Italian) is an alcoholic drink taken before a meal to stimulate the appetite; in English the Spritz, the Americano and the Negroni are its best-known cocktails. The Treccani dictionary describes it as usually based on aged wines, vermouth or vegetable bitters such as cinchona, rhubarb or artichoke, and notes that the name now also covers some low-alcohol and alcohol-free bitters. 3
Where the word comes from. Treccani traces it to the medieval Latin aperitivus, that which opens the way, from the verb aperire, to open. The old Italian adjective meant herbs and roots that help gastric secretion; the name of the drink came later through the French apéritif. 3
Wine-based aperitifs. EU law groups vermouth with aromatised wines: at least 75% wine, an actual strength of 14.5% to under 22% vol. 4 Vermouth must contain added alcohol and get its taste from Artemisia species, while bitter aromatised wines include Quinquina wine with quinine and Bitter vino with gentian, coloured yellow or red. 4
Spirit-based aperitifs. Red Italian bitters belong to another category: bitter-tasting spirit drinks with a predominantly bitter taste and at least 15% vol. 10 Neither EU regulation has a category called aperitif, so the bottle names the legal product, not the occasion. 410
The Milanese ritual. In 1915 Davide Campari opened the Camparino bar in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II; according to the brand, it changed how the bitter was drunk and created the aperitivo the Milanese still love. 5 In the 1980s the brand promoted the Italian Milanese aperitif as a moment to meet people and be seen. 5
The Venetian ritual. Aperol was created in 1919 by the brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri after seven years of experiments and became popular with young people in the cafés of Padua and the bars of Venice; the recipe for the Aperol Spritz appeared in the 1950s. 6 The IBA Spritz is 90 ml of Prosecco, 60 ml of Aperol and a splash of soda, with versions using Campari or Cynar. 7
Aperitif cocktails. The Americano mixes Campari, sweet red vermouth and soda, and the Negroni mixes gin, Campari and sweet red vermouth. 89 Campari dates both to around 1920. 5 In the Drinks International 2026 ranking of classic cocktails at the world's best bars, the Negroni is first, the Aperol Spritz seventh and the Americano 15th. 11
Appetite is not health. The dictionary still mentions an old belief that some aperitifs help digestion. 3 In the EU, however, drinks above 1.2% vol. may not carry health claims at all, so no label may promise that an aperitif aids digestion. 1
Why it matters to you. Aperitif is a custom, not a strength: a vermouth, a 15% vol. bitter and a Spritz differ a lot, so check the legal name and ABV on each bottle. 410 Low-alcohol and alcohol-free bitters also exist under the same name. 3 WHO stresses that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. 2
Facts
| Main use | drunk before a meal to stimulate the appetite 3 |
|---|---|
| Raw material | aged wines, vermouth or vegetable bitters: cinchona, rhubarb, artichoke 3 |
| Alcohol (% vol.) | aromatised wines 14.5–22% vol., bitters at least 15% vol. 410 |
| Legal basis | not an EU category; health claims banned above 1.2% vol.: Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, Art. 4(3) 1 |
| Region | Italy: Milan (Camparino, 1915), Padua and Venice (Aperol, Spritz) 56 |
How it connects to Spirits
🥃 Aperitif → image → 🌿 Bitters and bitter spirits → kind of → 🥃 Spirits
How it connects to Food traditions
🥃 Aperitif → tradition → 🧑🤝🧑 Italians ← tradition ← 🍰 Panettone → kind of → 🎄 Christmas food traditions → kind of → 🎎 Food traditions
Links
- What it affects
- 🍷 Alcohol and health, 🍷 Drunk driving
- Related to
- 🌿 Bitters and bitter spirits, 🥃 Campari, 🥃 Aperol, 🍷 Vermouth, 🍷 Fino, 🌿 Pastis, 🍷 Spritz, 🍷 Bitter aromatised wine, 🍷 Americano (aromatised wine), 🍷 Vermouth di Torino
- Images and sayings
- 🥃 Americano, 🥃 Bartender, 🥃 Garibaldi, 🥃 Palo de Mallorca, 🥃 Pelinkovac, 🥃 Țuică, 🥃 Campari Group, 🥃 Campari
- Traditions
- 🧑🤝🧑 Italians, 🧑🤝🧑 French
- Part of
- 🏷️ Label, law and health
- Similar and different
- 🥃 Digestif
- Whose tradition is it?
- 🧑🤝🧑 Italians
Frequently asked questions
Does an aperitif aid digestion?
That claim may not be made: in the EU, drinks above 1.2% vol. may not carry health claims. [1] WHO stresses that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. [2]
Where does the word aperitif come from?
From the medieval Latin aperitivus, from aperire, to open; the drink sense came through the French apéritif. [3]
Which drinks count as an aperitif?
Mostly aged wines, vermouth and vegetable bitters, plus cocktails such as the Spritz, Americano and Negroni. [3][7][8][9]
Is aperitif a category on the label?
No. EU law knows vermouth, bitter aromatised wine or bitter-tasting spirit drink, but not aperitif. [4][10]
Where did the Italian aperitivo ritual start?
Campari credits the Camparino bar in Milan, opened in 1915; Aperol links the Spritz to Padua and Venice. [5][6]
What to read next
- 🧑🤝🧑 Italians — The people of Italy; their cuisine rests on wine, olive oil and cheese, and in 2025 the country made 44.4 million hectolitres of wine, the most in the world.
- 🍷 Alcohol and health — Alcohol in any drink is harmful in large amounts, and the risks grow with the quantity.
- 🌿 Bitters and bitter spirits — Bitters and bitter spirits: spirit drinks from 15% ABV with a predominantly bitter taste, plus gentian spirit and sweeter bitter liqueurs. Campari, Fernet-Branca, Unicum and cocktail bitters like Angostura and Peychaud's.
- 🍸 Bitter (bitter-tasting spirit drink) — Bitter is a spirit drink with a predominantly bitter taste: flavoured alcohol or distillate from 15% ABV (EU category 30). Rheinberger Kräuter (Underberg) is the best-known protected name; many bitters are legally liqueurs.
- 🍷 Fino — Dry sherry aged only under a film of flor yeast (biological ageing); 14–17 % vol.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims, Art. 4(3): no health claims on beverages over 1.2 % vol.
- WHO/Europe: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health (04.01.2023)
- Treccani, Vocabolario: aperitivo (from medieval Latin aperitivus, from aperire 'to open'; sense 2 from French apéritif; drink based on aged wines, vermouth or vegetable bitters)
- Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 on aromatised wine products, Annex II (aromatised wine 14.5–22 % vol.; vermouth; bitter aromatised wine: Quinquina wine, Bitter vino, Americano)
- Campari: Our history (1915 Camparino created the Milanese aperitivo; Americano and Negroni; 1980s Italian Milanese aperitif)
- Aperol: Our story (created in 1919 by Luigi and Silvio Barbieri after seven years of experiments; cafés in Padua, bars in Venice; Aperol Spritz recipe in the 1950s)
- IBA: Spritz (90 ml Prosecco, 60 ml Aperol, splash of soda; versions with Campari, Cynar or Select)
- IBA: Americano (Bitter Campari, sweet red vermouth, soda)
- IBA: Negroni (gin, Bitter Campari, sweet red vermouth)
- Regulation (EU) 2019/787 on spirit drinks, Annex I, category 30 (bitter-tasting spirit drink or bitter, min. 15 % vol.)
- Campari Group: Corporate Presentation 2026 (Drinks International 2026 bestselling classic cocktails: 1st Negroni, 7th Aperol Spritz, 15th Americano, 18th Boulevardier)