Twelve Ingredients to Begin Making Apéritifs at Home

Six weeks ago I began my foray into the world of apéritif. The French term apéritif, or l’apéro, refers to the drinks themselves as well as the time of day in which they are enjoyed – that magnificent moment where the work day ends and your evening begins (a.k.a cocktail hour). It is the prelude to dinnertime and a wonderful way to jettison the day’s baggage.  

A true reflection of the French lifestyle, making an apéritif at home is a simple way to transform an ordinary afternoon into a beautiful moment of enjoying your surroundings – with a drink in hand to unwind the mind and stimulate the appetite.  

While making a cocktail isn’t as quick as pouring a glass of wine, an apéritif isn’t complicated. In fact, apéritifs can be as simple as two ingredients. For example, pour a few ounces of sweet vermouth over ice and garnish with an orange peel.

If you have not had an apéritif before, you may be more familiar with them than you think. Chances are you already know some by name: vermouth, Aperol, Campari, and sherry. With cocktail popularity continuing to rise, you can find many apéritif recipes online to get started. I’ve also found a lot of inspiration from Rebekah Peppler’s book Apéritif, and my copy of David Lebovitz’ book Drinking French arrives tomorrow! It’s all about elevating the essence of the apéritif itself. Start with your apéritif of choice, add a little carbonation or ice, a splash of bitters, and a citrus peel. Et voilà!

If you’d like to get into l’apéro, or are inspired to jump back into the art of the French cocktail hour, here are twelve ingredients I’ve used to enjoy countless apéritifs over the last six weeks. It’s a good start to stocking your bar cart and exploring the world of l’apéro.

Santé!

• Aperitifs:
  1) Sweet vermouth
  2) Fino sherry
  3) Lillet Blanc
  4) Campari

• Bitters:
  5) Angostura bitters
  6) Orange bitters

• Drinks:
  7) Dry hard cider
  8) Sparkling water
  9) Tonic
  10) Sparkling wine

• Garnish / Fresh Squeezed Juice:
  11) Orange
  12) Grapefruit 

To see how you can bring these ingredients to l’apéro life, follow me on Instagram where I frequently post apéritif reels and recipes.