Aperol Spritz is a refreshing drink made with only 3 ingredients. It’s bright, sweet, and bitter (in a good way). So good and easy to sip on!

Two glasses with Aperol Spritz cocktail garnished with orange slices.

Ingredients

Below you will find information about the ingredients and how to prepare the recipe. For the measurements and detailed instructions scroll down to the printable recipe card.

Here’s what you need to make this easy drink:

Labeled ingredients for Aperol Spritz cocktail.

Aperol Spritz is an Italian drink from a family of Spritz cocktails.

A Spritz cocktail is made with:

bitters: a bitter liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, or Select
Prosecco: an Italian sparkling wine wine
soda water (sparkling water)

For this particular recipe, we are using Aperol liqueur, which is the most popular liqueur to use in a Spritz cocktail. This is a very easy and forgiving recipe, so you could substitute Aperol for Campari or Select, but: they are similar but not identical. Campari is more bitter, less sweet, and has a higher alcohol content. Select is a Venetian liqueur and if you’ve drunk a Spritz in Venetia, it was probably made with Select. Select is similar to Aperol but has a lighter and more complex flavor, including vanilla, juniper berries, and rhubarb notes.

Since this is an Italian cocktail, the recipe calls for Italian sparkling wine, but you could really use any sparkling white wine such as Cava, which is a Spanish sparkling white wine, or Champagne which is a French sparkling white wine.

If you don’t like your cocktails fizzy, you can simply use a regular white wine. In fact, in Austria, where I live, when you order an Aperol Spritz cocktail, you will sometimes be asked if you want it made with Prosecco or white wine. If not using soda water (sparkling water), you can use still water.

Garnish for your drink: the most popular garnish for Aperol Spritz is a slice of orange, which complements its flavor perfectly. In Venetia, this drink is often served with an olive stuck on a toothpick.

Ice cubes: are used to chill your drink but I don’t like to add too many to not dilute the drink too much.

What kind of glass to use for the Aperol Spritz cocktail: white wine glasses are most often used for this drink, but short glasses can also be used.

How to make it step-by-step

A collage of 4 photos showing how to prepare Aperol Spritz cocktail step-by-step.

Fill your wine glass with ice cubes.

Add Prosecco, Aperol, and soda water to the glass. Stir gently.

Garnish with 1/2 slice of orange.

Enjoy right away!

The ingredients ratio is 3:2:1 of Prosecco to Aperol to soda water.

For one drink you will need:

3 fl oz (90ml) Prosecco (dry/brut) 3 PARTS
2 fl oz (60ml) Aperol 2 PARTS
1 fl oz (30ml) soda water (sparkling water) 1 PART

Ingredient Ratios

I tested all the possible ingredient ratios for Aperol Spritz side-by-side to come back to the recipe that can be found on the label of Aperol Spritz. It really is the best recipe. The 1:1 ratio of Aperol to Prosecco is too sweet for my taste and the 1:2 ratio is too savory.

The 1:1/2 ratio really hits the spot, it’s not too sweet and not too plain. If you don’t like your drinks sweet, the 1:2 ratio would be best. It can also depend on what are you serving your drinks with and your mood – I really like both the 1:1/2 ratio Aperol Spritz and 1:2 ratio as well, just not the 1:1. Try for yourself what works for you best!

More delicious cocktail recipes for you to try

Two glasses with Aperol Spritz cocktail garnished with orange slices on a white marble board.

Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!