Americano Cocktail: Easy Campari and Vermouth Recipe
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With equal parts Campari and sweet vermouth, a splash of soda and an orange twist, the Americano is the easiest classic cocktail we make at home. Learn how to build one in five minutes, no shaker required.
We hesitated to make an Americano at home, figuring it was a lesser Negroni. After all, an Americano is basically a Negroni with soda water in place of gin. We were right about the recipe and wrong about the drink.
The Americano is bittersweet, bubbly and easy to drink, with less alcohol than a Negroni. Without gin in the mix, Campari and sweet vermouth have room to shine.
In other words, the Americano is an ideal summer sipper that’s sophisticated enough to drink all year long.
🍸 This Recipe at a Glance
- Base: Campari and sweet vermouth
- Ratio: 1:1, topped with soda
- Glass: Rocks glass with ice
- Method: Built in the glass and stirred
- Garnish: Expressed orange twist
- Time: 5 minutes
- Strength: Light, about 8% to 9% ABV with 3 ounces of soda
- Calories: 172
- Flavor: Bittersweet, herbal, orange-forward and lightly fizzy
- Best for: Aperitivo hour
What Is an Americano Cocktail?
Ordering an Americano in Italy can go two different ways.
If you’re lucky, you could soon be sipping a Caffè Americano made with espresso and hot water. If you’re luckier, you’ll get an Americano drink crafted with Campari and sweet vermouth instead.
We already spilled the beans when we described the Americano as a Negroni without gin. But we didn’t tell the full story of the drink that has inspired a myriad of aperitivos…
History of the Americano
You’re surely familiar with the Americano cocktail if you’re an Ian Fleming fan. It’s the very first cocktail that James Bond orders in Casino Royale, and it also appears in From Russia with Love and From a View to a Kill. But did you know that the Americano cocktail history predates Fleming’s novels by almost a century?
According to cocktail lore, the Americano was born in the 1860s when Gaspare Campari (yes, that Campari) added soda water to a Milano-Torino cocktail at his bar in Milan. The Milano-Torino has just two ingredients: herbaceous Campari from Milan and sweet vermouth from Turin.
The soda water version eventually took on the name Americano when it became popular with American expats and travelers in Italy. Today, it’s a fixture at aperitivo hour in Italy and around the world.
Americano vs. Negroni
The Americano and the Negroni share two of their three ingredients: Campari and sweet vermouth. The difference is the third pour. The Americano gets sparkling water, while the Negroni gets gin.
The Americano came first. According to cocktail lore, Count Camillo Negroni asked a bartender in Florence to swap the soda in his Americano for gin around 1919. That swap turned a light, fizzy aperitivo into one of the world’s most famous cocktails.
| Americano | Negroni | |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredients | Campari, Sweet Vermouth and Sparkling Water | Gin, Campari and Sweet Vermouth |
| Strength | About 8% to 9% ABV | About 24% ABV |
| Texture | Light and Fizzy | Rich and Spirit-Forward |
| Glass | Rocks Glass over Ice | Rocks Glass over Ice |
| Best for | Daytime and Early Aperitivo | Pre-Dinner Sipping |
Both drinks are bittersweet, but the two classic Italian cocktails aren’t the same. The Americano is a sipper you can enjoy on a sunny afternoon without derailing the rest of your day. Since the Negroni is more potent, one is usually plenty.
We reach for an Americano when we want something easy and refreshing and a Negroni when we’re settling in for the evening. Can’t decide? Make both, then try one of our Negroni variations.
Ingredients
You don’t need a million ingredients to craft an Americano at home. If you’re like us, you likely have the necessary ingredients lurking in your kitchen and bar:
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
How to Craft an Americano Cocktail
The Americano is one of the easiest classic cocktails to craft and requires absolutely no special bar tools. We use a jigger, bar spoon, peeler and paring knife in our recipe, but you can be creative if you don’t have these tools on hand.
The first step is to slice a strip of peel from an orange and create an orange twist. We like to trim our strip with a paring knife to get smooth edges.
Pro Tip
Twirl your orange peel strip around a chopstick to achieve a curly twist.
The next step is to measure the two liquids with a jigger.
Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade.
You’ll want to pour each ingredient into a lowball glass immediately after you measure it. There is no need to use a mixing glass or shaker for this recipe, an ideal situation for lazy mixologists who would rather drink from glasses than wash them.
Once you pour the Campari and vermouth, you’ll want to add ice to the glass and gently stir with a bar spoon. We used five medium ice cubes in our drink, but one jumbo ice cube would work well, too.
Next, top the glass with either club soda or sparkling water. You can add as much or as little as you like. Adding more soda will create a less potent potable.
We use Perrier to craft our cocktails for two reasons. First, Perrier is our preferred sparkling water, and it’s what we typically drink at home. Second, club soda isn’t readily available in Lisbon, where we live.
Fun Fact
We’re not alone with our preference for Perrier. James Bond drank his Americano cocktails with Perrier too!
The final step is to add an orange peel twist. Before dropping the twist into the glass, rub the orange peel around the glass rim.
Expressing the orange peel like this releases pleasing orange scents and flavors into your Americano.
Variations
Mastering the Americano recipe should take just one try. This is not a cocktail with a learning curve! It’s also a cocktail with lots of variations, including the following:
Discover 10 essential bar tools for the home mixologist.
Americano Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ ounces Campari
- 1 ½ ounces sweet vermouth
- 3 ounces sparkling water (or to taste)
- ice cubes
- 1 orange peel (garnish)
Instructions
- Pour Campari and sweet red vermouth into a glass.
- Add ice and gently stir.
- Top off with club soda or sparkling water.
- Express the orange peel by twisting it over the glass and rubbing it along the rim. Then drop it into the glass as garnish.
Notes
- Serve the Americano in a lowball or rocks glass.
- To batch, mix equal parts Campari and sweet vermouth ahead, then pour over ice and top each glass with soda.
Nutrition
💡 Frequently Asked Questions
An Americano is a classic Italian aperitivo built directly in the glass over ice. It’s bittersweet, lightly fizzy and lower in alcohol than most classic cocktails.
An Americano has just four ingredients plus ice: 1½ ounces Campari, 1½ ounces sweet vermouth, about 3 ounces club soda or sparkling water and an orange twist for garnish.
According to cocktail lore, Gaspare Campari created the drink at his Milan bar in the 1860s by adding soda water to a Milano-Torino. It got the name Americano later, when it became popular with American travelers in Italy.
No. A Caffè Americano is espresso diluted with hot water. In Italy, specify the cocktail at aperitivo hour or you might get coffee instead.
Both use Campari and sweet vermouth. The Negroni adds gin, while the Americano uses soda water. The Americano is a lighter, fizzier drink with less alcohol.
The Americano is stirred, not shaken. Shaking would flatten the soda.
Any Italian sweet red vermouth works. Martini & Rossi and Cinzano keep it classic and affordable, while Carpano Antica Formula adds vanilla richness. Skip dry vermouth.
Our recipe has about 172 calories per drink.
We serve the Americano in a rocks glass over ice. A highball glass works if you like extra soda.
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