Aperitivo as we know it — refreshing spritzes and bubbly, bitter spagliatos sipped under the setting sun — got its start in the 1800s, when travel began to boom, and Italians had the inspired idea to spread Italian-style sweet vermouth around the world. In 1863, Alessandro Martini and Luigi Rossi launched Rosso, a sweet red vermouth made by brewing northern Italian wine with local botanicals like artemisia and dittany. It was the first product created by Martini & Rossi, and by 1900, it was sold in more than one hundred countries worldwide. 

Back then, aperitivo was a bit different than it is now. Commercialization meant tweaking cocktails for the American palette, which evolved the drinks over time — and new trends continued to unfold every few years. While different expressions of the drinks have cycled in and out of favor, one thing has remained the same: a fascination for aperitivo. 

Now, Martini & Rossi still sells its original Rosso vermouth, along with a dozen other innovative products that expanded the meaning of aperitivo: from their vibrant Fiero made with Spanish oranges to their non-alcoholic Floreale infused with Roman chamomile. 

To celebrate how far aperitivo has come and cheers to its sparkling future, we spoke with Daniel Kutch, the East Coast ambassador for Martini & Rossi. Below, he breaks down six aperitivo recipes that touch on the tradition’s history — and usher in the future. 

Martini Vermuttino

The straightforward Vermuttino has been around since aperitivo first went global. “This is the first real aperitivo, in my opinion,” Kutch says. While many Italians would drink Martini & Rossi Rosso neat or on the rocks, many drank it with a splash of mineral water, helping to lengthen the flavors and lower the ABV for a lighter daytime drink, and the Vermuttino was born. “This is as simple as it gets,” Kutch says. 

INGREDIENTS
Serving: 1
2.5 ounces Martini Rosso
Splash of soda

Garnish: orange wedge and lemon peel 

DIRECTIONS
1. Fill a tumbler with ice cubes.
2. Pour the ingredients in and stir gently.
3. Add the orange wedge and lemon peel to garnish. 

The Martini Americano

This iconic mix of vermouth, bitters, and soda water is the result of Italian flavors meeting American palettes. In the early 1900s, Americans began traveling to Italy in abundance and were introduced to one of the first aperitivo cocktails, the Milano Torino, a mix of sweet vermouth from Torino, and a bitter from Milan. “They found this to be extremely syrupy, and way, way, way too bitter,” Kutch says. “It was really common to start seeing them adding soda water into the mix. In Italian, you’d be ordering a Mi-To a la Americano.” Soon the name was shortened to Americano,  and a new Italian American classic was born. 

INGREDIENTS
Serving: 1
1 part Martini Riserva Speciale Rubino
1 part Martini Riserva Speciale Bitter
Top with soda water 

Garnish: lemon slice 

DIRECTIONS
1. Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
2. Pour the ingredients in and stir gently.
3. Add lemon slice to garnish.

Martini Fiero & Tonic

Soon after, a bright, bitter orange aperitif became a part of the aperitivo canon: Fiero. Serving up a concentrated citrus flavor to awaken the senses. To make it, oranges from Murcia, Spain, are hand-peeled, “kind of like how your grandma peels an apple before baking a pie: in one big swath,” Kutch says. “So it’s super long, like a ribbon.” Then, they’re air dried until they’re dry enough to snap and are macerated with other botanicals, like artemisia, to extrude as much flavor as possible. This Fiero and Tonic is Kutch’s favorite version of the spritz at the moment — as it’s a lower ABV than most spritzes and only requires two ingredients. 

INGREDIENTS
Serving: 1
1 part Martini Fiero
1 part tonic water

Garnish: blood orange wheel

DIRECTIONS
1. Fill a balloon glass with ice cubes.
2. Pour the ingredients in and stir gently.
3. Add the blood orange wheel to garnish. 

Martini Floreale & Tonic

While nonalcoholic spirits have gained traction in the past few years, Martini & Rossi has a long history of producing them: During Prohibition, they made non-alcoholic Rosso for customers in the United States. Now they create their non-alcoholic Floreale the same way they make other aperitifs — the only difference is it’s dealcoholized, so it can retain the complexity and minerality the vermouth brings to the table. It’s also mixed with unique botanicals like Roman chamomile for a lighter, floral note. “It has this almost chamomile tea-like quality once it’s mixed with artemisia,” Kutch says. “And then the tonic water is the citrusy, bittersweet carbonation that balances out everything perfectly.”

INGREDIENTS
Serving: 1
2.5 ounces Martini Floreale
2.5 ounces tonic water

Garnish: orange wheel

DIRECTIONS
1. Fill a balloon glass with ice cubes.
2. Pour the ingredients in and stir gently.
3. Add the orange wheel to garnish. 

Martini Vibrante & Tonic

To continue their non-alcoholic tradition, Martini & Rossi created Vibrante, using Italian bergamot to bring out additional bitterness. “I would say that this is our non-alcoholic version of the Fiero and Tonic,” Kutch says. It has the same iconic bright red color you want in an aperitivo, thanks to its use of the same wine, herbs, and botanicals, but with none of the alcohol.

INGREDIENTS
Serving: 1
2.5 ounces Martini Vibrante
2.5 ounces tonic water

Garnish: orange wheel

DIRECTIONS
1. Fill a balloon glass with ice cubes.
2. Pour the ingredients in and stir gently.
3. Add the orange wheel to garnish.

Martini Passione

How do you take a historically Italian tradition into the future? You introduce flavors from across the world. This cocktail utilizes the bright tartness of passion fruit for a completely new aperitivo. “[The Martini Bianco] coaxes out a lot of flavors of vanilla and grapefruit that round out really well with passion fruit…the basil’s nice and herbaceous,” Kutch says. “It’s super tropical, it’s super refreshing, but then there’s also this garden atmosphere happening at the same time.” The use of tart, herbal flavors married with Martini Bianco culminates in a fresh, new cocktail that speaks to the future of aperitivo. 

INGREDIENTS
Serving: 1
2.5 ounces Martini Bianco
⅓ ounce passion fruit mix (or half fresh passionfruit and ½ ounce simple syrup)
2.5 ounces soda water
1 lime wedge squeezed 

Garnish: basil leaves

DIRECTIONS
1. Fill a wine glass with ice cubes.
2. Pour the first three ingredients in and stir gently.
3. Squeeze the lime wedge over the drink and drop in the glass.
4. Add basil to garnish.