Recipe

• 3 parts Aperol

• 3 parts sparkling white wine

• 1 part soda water

Pour it all into a wine glass with ice.

This was delightful and refreshing. Some bars seem to serve it with a lower amount of Aperol, which just tastes bland and dull. By this recipe, we get a strong bitter taste balanced wonderfully with sweetness from somewhere, and it makes for something beautifully drinkable.

I'd have used more ice if I was making it, since mine melted quickly and the drink got a bit warm by the end. I recently learned something surprising about ice in drinks: the more ice you add, the less water ends up in the drink. If there's enough ice to keep the drink close to 0°C, the ice stays frozen and everyone's happy; but if you only add a couple of cubes, the drink only gets down to 5°C or so, and then it all melts. It seems obvious now, but it would never have occurred to me.