The Story Behind The Aperol Sour

The Paper Plane had an affair with the Whiskey Sour, bourbon got lost somewhere in the gene pool, and along came the Aperol Sour. At a passing glance, the Aperol Sour looks like a fresh draft pour of a raspberry Berliner Weisse-style beer — bright, ruby-red in color and nestled beneath a thick, meringue-like head. While just as refreshing, this cocktail blends the beloved Italian apéretif, Aperol, with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and an egg white.

The Aperol Sour doesn’t have a documented history. The Spritz, of course, entered the canon of classic cocktails long ago, with a story, people of note, and all the usual jazz that comes with the tale of a classic. This drink is more like an experiment on giving Aperol the “sour treatment.” And the result is delicious. Just as Prosecco adds acidity to the Aperol Spritz, lemon provides the same effect in the Sour, balancing out the bitter-sweet apéretif. Gin plays an important role, too, supporting the cocktail’s base with a needed kick of booze and piney juniper notes.

Being a relatively simple drink to make, this is a good entry-level egg white cocktail. On that note, make sure to dry shake before adding ice, as this helps to better emulsify the egg. The egg white should impart texture on this cocktail, not flavor, so shake the living daylights out of this one. If you think you’ve shaken it enough, give it another few rounds before pouring.

For those who want to soften the Aperol’s influence with a touch of spice, we recommend adding two dashes of Angostura bitters into the mix. Alternatively, and if you have them on hand, grapefruit bitters make a great addition. There’s no strict recipe for the Aperol Sour, so feel free to get creative.