Aperitif Cocktails
Explore 81 Aperitif cocktail recipes.
Aperitif cocktails are designed to do one thing — wake the appetite up. They sit on the bitter, dry, low-alcohol side of the table, the opposite end from the dessert cocktail, with bright citrus and bitter herbs doing the work of pulling the palate awake. The Negroni is the canonical example: gin, Campari and sweet vermouth in equal measures, stirred over ice and finished with an orange peel, served before dinner because it draws hunger out rather than dulling it.
The Aperol Spritz is the lighter highball version of the same idea: Aperol, prosecco and a splash of soda over ice, a third the strength and twice the sociability. The Americano makes the Negroni a long drink. The Sidecar, the Gin and Tonic and the Garibaldi all earn their place on the list, each pulling the same trick from a different angle — bitterness, citrus, structure.
What ties this list together is restraint. Aperitif cocktails serve the meal that follows, not themselves. Most are low-strength, most are stirred or built rather than shaken, most run drier than sweet, and most pair unusually well with crisps, olives or anything salt-heavy.
The trick is to stop at one — these drinks are meant to set up dinner, not replace it.
Our top Aperitif cocktail
Sidecar
Cognac, Triple sec, Lemon juice
Top Aperitif cocktails
Lavender French 75
Gin, Champanhe / prosecco, Lemon juice, Xarope de lavanda
Martini Perfect
Dry gin, Red vermouth, White vermouth, Aromatic bitters
Boulevardier
Bourbon, Campari, Red vermouth
Negroni
Gin, Campari, Red vermouth
Tuscan Blue Fizz
Gin, Rosemary syrup, Soda water
Dry Martini Montgomery's
Dry gin, White vermouth, Orange bitters
Dry Martini 'Preferred'
Dry gin, White vermouth, Orange bitters
Garibaldi
Campari, Orange juice, Sugar / simple syrup