Select Aperitivo 17,5% ABV 70cl - The Essential Ingredient for the Original Venetian Spritz, Italian Aperitif, Since 1920

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I suppose it's complicated, like everything involving fine taste in Italy seems to be. However, 85% of Italians agree on one thing: they can't give up the habit of aperitivo at least once a month.

Ice first, ⅓ of still white wine (or prosecco), ⅓ Aperol, ⅓ soda and an orange slice. Usually served on a goblet. Aperitivo hour, though, is a time when family and friends gather to enjoy small bites and appetite-stimulating, low-ABV tipples before dinner—typically from 6 to 8 p.m.—as a way to unwind from the day. At the center of the occasion are these aperitivo bitters, which are native to Italy and typically radiate an eye-catching sunset hue (think Campari and Aperol) — synonymous with the time at which they’re often consumed. Cities across America have eagerly embraced this slow, mindful drinking occasion with bars such as New York’s award-winning Dante and Seattle’s intimate Barnacle recreating the cultural phenomenon stateside. For example, this Spritz walking tour is ideal for you if you really want to get a real taste of the authentic Venetian drinking culture. Tad: Elsewhere in the globe, Select is available throughout Europe and in parts of Asia as well. And if anybody's in Canada it's widely available in Canada as well.Fitting into this moment, in 1920, came Select - a red bitter liqueur that would go on to become the Spritz's most popular bitter companion in Italy. Created in the Castello district of Venice, Select is made with a blend of 30 botanicals including juniper berries and rhubarb roots using a complex maceration, boiling, and distillation process to create a sophisticated but still approachable bittersweet aperitivo. Select to this day continues to be very popular in Venice and the surrounding Veneto area of northern Italy, and is enjoyed in more than 50 countries as the main ingredient of the original Venetian Spritz.

Skardy lamented that "spritz used to be cheap, [and] now it's a luxury for yuppies". But nothing could stop the rise of Aperol, a sort of orange tidal wave that, according to food expert Eleonora Cozzella, was powered by the easy appeal of its colour and taste. "It has a chromatic coherence: it's the colour of the summer evening. You say Aperol Spritz, and you already see yourself on a terrace at sunset overlooking the Adriatic Sea," she explained. (It's such a distinctive hue that Pasini is creating a pantone colour chart for beginner mixologists who want to get the right tone).

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Aperol – now by far the most popular spritz liqueur around the world – was invented in the nearby city of Padova in 1919 by brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri after seven years of experiments, macerating sour orange peels, gentian root, rhubarb and spices in their father's distillery. It was first advertised in the 1920s to drinkers who wanted to stay fit because of its low alcohol level (11%), and to women in the 1930s with the slogan, " Signora! Aperol keeps you thin". By the '80s, it was dirt-cheap and appreciated by regulars at every local bar in the Veneto region, creating a sort of spritz archipelago in the Po Valley, where the cities of Padova, Venice, Treviso and Vicenza would carry on the tradition, each with their own slightly different recipe. Tad: It is, but it's also, again, it speaks to the pride and that sort of Italian fire. We will maintain it now and forever. It's frustrating because Aperol is I guess ubiquitous around the United States and other parts of the world when it comes to the spritz. And it's a bit frustrating for us, for consumers not to understand that the spritz is really a model and the spirits can be made with a variety of things, the original spritz being made with Select. But we are working diligently every day to help those consumers expand their horizons when it comes to aperitivo, when it comes to bitters, and when it comes to the spritz. The problem is that they weren’t at ease with the great variety of high alcohol content of the Veneto wines, hence the request to the local innkeepers to sprinkle a little water inside the wines to make them lighter. It's a hymn to slowness," said Cozzella. "The desire to prolong the moment before the dinner. It's an excuse to drink, nibble and stay together a little longer before going home."

Select members, select, no pun intended, of his team are aware of the full recipe. And then one or two of the board of directors or owners of the company and probably, some Swami's sitting on the top of a mountaintop in Nepal somewhere, I'm not really sure.Osterie and bacari are the cheapest places where you can drink Spritz. It usually costs between 2,50 and 4 euros. These 5 star hotels in Venice and historic bars such Caffe Florian and Harry’s Bar are where you can drink great Spritz but also a lot more expensive. Both experiences are worth a go. Ferrari noted that having this home in Venice will add “an extra layer in our communication as well as reinforce our tie and presence within our city of origin. It will also serve as a physical space and flagship to tell Select Aperitivo’s incredible story to all of our customers and stakeholders. Tiff: Aperitivo is was very much an Italian and European tradition, but it's not necessarily a tradition everywhere. Has it been difficult to explain the logic behind that to other countries where it hasn't been established? Thanks to its ancient link with the city and its enduring success, Select is recognized as the classic Venetian Aperitif. Its refined and complex formula, inspired by the original recipe, maintains its distinctive flavor.