“One of my favorite drinks to make during the summer,” declares a very summery Giada De Laurentiis in her August 6 Instagram video, referring to the Aperol spritz. “It has the perfect combination of bitter and sweet.” And although recipes vary slightly across the spritz-loving world, an Aperol spritz must include both bitter (Aperol) and sweet (prosecco) to be a proper spritz.
According to Bi Rite Market, it was the Aperol brothers who came up with the idea for the Aperol spritz in the 1950s, taking their signature bitter amaro syrup and balancing it with a splash of prosecco to take the bitterness out. De Laurentiis does the same in her Instagram video, adding a few flavor enhancers (such as grapefruit soda and a dash of Angostura Bitters) and one other important change.
“A whole bottle of prosecco,” De Laurentiis announces cheerfully, pouring the sweet, fizzy wine into a jug. This is no ordinary recipe, after all – this is a “big batch” Aperol spritz, fit to feed a crowd. “It makes you feel like you’re in full swing of summer,” says the chef, to the utter delight (and heart-eye emojis) of many in the comments section. “Yummm,” wrote Katie Lee Biegel, fellow Food Network personality and apparent spritzer sister. “It’s like summer now,” wrote another commenter, tagging a friend. In fact, many followers included other Instagram handles in their comments on the post, showing just how crowd-friendly De Laurentiis’ Aperol spritz is.
