Remember the late 2000s when lame bars and restaurants thought the cool thing to do was decorate the walls with out of print Italian bitters posters? Yeah, I do too. There’s still a few clingers out there somewhere, I’m sure. And yes, before you ask, I too have been tempted to throw one of these puppies up on the wall in my own apartment. I’ve ignored the call…For now…But after a quick and easy Google search…

Yes, the Fernet crocodile! Coccodrillo in Italian! Everything sounds better in Italian! Oh how I could quaff Fernet in front of this and marvel at my originality!

Back the daily point at hand. Big whoopsidaisy (sbagliato in Italian). Who knew that adding strawberries to the very low ABV (11%!) Aperol would cause a crazy secondary fermentation? This guy didn’t. Call it lack of foresight, idiocy, naïveté… All of the above. But it actually turned out wonderful. A nice fizzy strawberry flavored version of all our favorite aperitif. Yes, we’ll be doing more in the future with other fruits. In case you want to try yourself, be careful. It’ll explode if left at room temperature. Let it go for a few days, burp it, and then throw it in the refrigerator.

Of course, now I’m wondering what else will work…

And as I began writing this morning, I realized I know very little about Aperol except that it’s delicious, slightly bitter, citrusy, and in the category of Italian bitters made in gigantic vats full of food coloring, additives, and “natural flavors.” I mean, in my mind, there’s no possible way they can make so much of it without cutting some corners. We’re all aware of some ingredients right? Gentian, rhubarb, chinchona…But I think that’s it. We can guess at orange and other citrus fruits, but let’s face facts, at the rate it’s made nowadays, most of the ingredients are probably artificial and conjured up in that weird lab in New Jersey featured in the book, Fast Food Nation.

Booze is interesting in that none of the bottles have to feature ingredients or health information of any sort. It allows these guys to keep their secrets.

The official Aperol Spritz recipe is three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, and a splash of soda. My question is why even add the dash of soda?

In any case, without Aperol the world would be a worse place. No Paper Plane or Naked and Famous cocktails. And yes, maybe a spritz on a hot summer day once in awhile. Nothing tastes or looks like it.