Aperol is an Italian bitter aperitivo, or aperitif, introduced in 1919 by brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri, who had inherited their father’s liqueur company in Padua seven years earlier. See aperitif and digestive. They derived its name from the French apéro (short for apéritif). Vibrantly orange in color, Aperol is supposedly still infused with the original recipe of oranges and bitter barks and roots (chiefly chinchona, rhubarb, and gentian). Compared to Campari, another long-popular aperitivo, Aperol is less bitter and considerably lower in alcohol (ranging from 11 percent to 15 percent ABV, depending on where it’s sold); indeed, in Italy it has always been promoted as an “aperitivo poco alcolico”—a “lightly alcoholic aperitif.” See Campari.
In the 1950s, Aperol began to appear as a component in the Aperol Spritz, the drink with which it eventually became indelibly linked. See Aperol Spritz. It was only after the brand’s acquisition by Gruppo Campari in 2003 and Campari’s canny promotion of the spritz that Aperol achieved its remarkable global success, catapulting to the leading position in the company’s spirits portfolio.
Parsons, Brad Thomas. Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs. Berkeley: Ten Speed, 2016.
By: David Mahoney