If you’re a big fan of sipping Aperol Spritz at any time of the day, it turns out you might be doing it wrong, at least according to two Italians who are food and wine experts
Aperol Spritz might feel like a summer drink you sip on a warm, sunny day, there’s nothing stopping you enjoying the tipple any time of year. That being said, some Italians are claiming we’ve been drinking it wrong this whole time – and it’s not to do with the time of year we’re drinking it.
TikTok content creators Benedetta and Valeria run a food and wine experiences company, based in Italy. Known as Local Aromas, they love to show people “how Italians really eat, drink and live so you can experience Italy like a local”.
And something they feel passionately about is teaching people the ‘correct’ way to drink Aperol Spritz, a popular sparkling wine-based cocktail made from Prosecco, Aperol and sparkling water. In the clip, Benedetta said: “No Spritz when you’re sitting down to have a main meal please.”
Valeria explained that while she understand spritzes are great, they’ve noticed people sitting down to a meal and having one alongside their “carbonara, pizza and Saltimbocca”. However, according to Benedetta, this just “doesn’t make sense”.
Explaining why, Valeria said: “The spritz is an aperitivo drink and traditionally in Italy when we drink an aperitivo drink, the drink is bitter.” Benedetta continued: “The bitterness serves the purpose of opening your stomach to then go have dinner, so it’s okay to have a spritz with something to nibble on before dinner, but when you sit at the table….”
Valeria added: “It’s bitter. It doesn’t pair with the food. So have the spritz absolutely, every single day or multiple times a day as an aperitivo, so half an hour, an hour, an hour and a half before you have lunch or before you have dinner. Absolutely perfect.”
However, when you sit down at the table and order food, you should instead order something else – such as a wine, beer or water. But Benedetta explained the “strong flavours of the spritz will clash with anything you eat”.
So if you’ve eaten a dish alongside having an Aperol Spritz and thought you didn’t like the meal, it could be the “bitterness from the spritz ruining it” instead.
Summing up, Benedetta said that while of course you can do what you want, “this was just our suggestions as two locals that live in Italy”. Many people shared their opinions in the comment section.
One person wrote: “This is universal not just Italy. If I see someone drinking a spritz or cocktails with their meal, I just think they don’t know what they’re doing.” Another added: “So that’s why Aperol Spritz makes me hungry. Makes total sense. Love the nibbles that come with it.”
However, others said they would continue to drink it in the way they choose. One person wrote: “Thank you for your input. But we’ll drink it whenever we want! Grazie.” And another said: “Well… I’m an adult… I’ll do what I want when I want thank you.”