Highball · Aperitivo · Autumn

Americano

Campari and sweet vermouth in equal measure, then soda to open them up. Bitter and gentle at once, and light enough for the afternoon.

Base: Campari
Glass: Highball glass
Method: Build
Strength: 8.8% ABV

Ingredients

30 mlBitter Campari1 swap
Any red bitter aperitivomedium
Bitterness/sweetness varies
30 mlSweet Red Vermouth
splashSoda Water

How to make

Technique

Build · 10–15s

Building straight in the glass keeps it simple and preserves any fizz.

Mix the ingredients directly in an old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes.
Add a splash of Soda Water.
Stir gently.

Serve

Glass

Highball glassAlso fine: Collins glass, Tall tumbler

Garnish

Garnish with half orange slice and a lemon zest.Orange on the rim, lemon oil sprayed over the top.

Taste & nutrition

8.8%ABV

176kcal

0.47Drinks

StrengthLight

Sweet to dryBalanced

Estimated from ingredient amounts and assumed ABVs — not a lab measurement.

Good to know

Add the fizzy mixer last so it keeps its bubbles.

History

Year1860s

PlaceMilan, Italy

Created byGaspare Campari (Caffè Campari)

Born in the cafés of 1860s Milan, the Americano pairs Campari and sweet vermouth, lengthened with a splash of soda. Its name nods to the American taste for vermouth-and-bitters drinks that Italian producers were busy exporting. Simple and refreshing, it became the template that the Negroni would later build on by trading soda for gin. It endures as one of Italy's classic apéritivo drinks.

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