Aperol America: How TV Shows and Social Media Relaunched Aperitifs Into the Viral Spotlight
Tastes are turning sour as aperitifs like Aperol and Campari take center stage on HBO, Netflix and Instagram. (Photo: Mandoga Media/AP Images)
Americans are demanding alcoholic aperitifs in record numbers and your favorite TV show may be to blame.
For the uninitiated, aperitifs are a type of bittersweet spirit that hovers around 15 to 25 percent alcohol content. Typically made with a wide variety of aromatics and botanicals including rhubarb, ginseng, tree bark and even artichoke, aperitifs have long been considered an acquired taste in the eyes of many consumers.
But tastes are changing. Thanks to a handful of hit TV shows and social media trends, aperitifs have been thrust into the boozy spotlight and sales are booming at unprecedented levels.
Above all else, aperitifs have been popularized by the era of the viral cocktail.
Bitter Rivalry
The simple but oft-reviled Aperol Spritz, a three-part mix of herby Aperol, club soda and prosecco topped with an orange slice, has been the latest cocktail to capture the cultural zeitgeist.
Throughout their doomed vacation to Sicily, the stars of White Lotus drank Aperol Spritzs by the bucketload. (Photo: HBO)
Campari Group, the spirits company behind Aperol, announced that sales of the bitter aperitif grew 50% in 2022 alone. They credited its resurgent popularity to its ubiquitous presence in season two of The White Lotus, in which seemingly every character was seen sipping on bright red cocktails throughout their trip to Italy.
Another HBO show, House of the Dragon, unexpectedly catapulted the Campari-based Negroni Sbagliato to stardom last year when actor Emma D’arcy named it their favorite cocktail in a viral interview.
Of course, drinks like these are enormously aided by their Instagram-friendly aesthetic. A classic rum and coke simply doesn’t “pop” on screen the same way that a colorful cocktail does, nor are they nearly as fun to watch a bartender make.
The winning cocktail on episode one of Netflix’s Drink Masters, containing Aisling-infused mezcal, pomegranate seeds and morel mushrooms. (Photo: Netflix)
An entire genre of social media accounts dedicated to increasingly ornate cocktails has taken hold of phone screens over the past few years. Drink Masters, the reality show that dared bartenders to mix up cocktails containing the likes of salted foam, gourmet jellies and gold leaf, reigned supreme on Netflix’s Top 10 chart for weeks.
To some, this might seem like a trend that prioritizes looks over ingredients; the latest craze that we’ll swipe past in a few months when a new fidget spinner or TikTok dance wins over our hearts.
But this trend is translating into sales.
Consumers are trading out margaritas and gin and tonics for multi-ingredient craft cocktails in which colorful aperitifs like Aperol, Vermouth and Cynar take center stage.
As tastes shift, American producers are moving in on the market. The New York Times recently reported on an up-and-coming generation of aperitif producers who are using everything from blackcurrants to hibiscus in their increasingly lucrative spirits.
Whether or not you’ve acquired the bittersweet tastebud, aperitifs represent an interesting shift in the market. Off-kilter flavors of tree bark and flower root have somehow taken hold in a nation of whiskey, tequila and vodka lovers.
Even if aperitifs aren’t here to stay, we welcome the change of pace.
Read More:
Tequila Negroni: A Tequilicious Twist on the TikTok Trend
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