Champagne Aperol cocktail (Aperol sprizz)

History

This was the drink of choice for my cousin's 30th birthday party. As guests arrived, each was handed a cocktail. My cousin, aunt and I spent the rest of my visit drinking a champagne bottle's worth of these each night while we hashed over family gossip. (Only two glasses each.) By the time I left, the bottle Aperol bitters was finished.

I'd never heard of Aperol before; it's a bitter like Campari. "Aperol is Pepsi; Campari is Coke," explained one birthday reveler. The analogy was more true than he realized; like Pepsi, Aperol is a bit sweeter than its competition.