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7 Italian Cocktails You Will Love

Discover seven Italian cocktails that will transport your taste buds to Italy.

Bartenders at Camparino in Galleria in Milan

Traveling to Italy has culinary rewards that include pizza and pasta as well as many more Italian foods and desserts. But, make no mistake – some of these edible rewards are best imbibed from a glass.

In Italy, people fill sidewalk cafes every day of the week. While munching on a range of snacks, from salumi to cheese, their hands clutch glasses of wine as well as flutes filled with sparkling prosecco and a variety of classic Italian cocktails.

Fun Fact
Italians don’t say cheers when they make toasts. They say salute or cin cin instead.

Drinking Italian Cocktails in Italy

Aperol Spritz on the Costa Smeralda Cruise Ship
We drank this Aperol Spritz on an Italian cruise ship.

Cocktails are nothing new in Italy.

Italians have been sipping Aperol Spritzes and Negronis for more than a century. It just took some time for Italy’s sophisticated sippers to jump the pond in a serious way.

The popularity of those two particular Italian cocktails has skyrocketed in recent years to the point that it’s practically impossible to find a bar in the United States that doesn’t serve one or both. However, while we sip the occasional Negroni and Aperol Spritz, they’re not the only Italian cocktails we craft at home.

Drinking Italian Cocktails at Home

Crafted Americano Cocktail
Crafting Italian cocktails at home is the next best thing to drinking them in their homeland.

We drink a variety of Italian drinks at home when we enjoy aperitivo sessions filled with olives, cheese and assorted cured meats. It’s a custom we learned about in Bologna and one that we’re happy to recreate when we have company as well as when we don’t.

These are our favorites Italian cocktail recipes to craft at home:

7 of the Best Italian Cocktails

Italian Cocktail FAQs

What are Italian cocktails?

Italian cocktails are cocktails invented in Italy. They’re typically crafted with Italian liqueurs like Amaretto, Aperol and Campari.

What’s the most popular Italian cocktail?

The Negroni is the most popular Italian cocktail both in Italy and beyond with the Aperol Spritz a close second.

When is the best time to drink Italian cocktails?

While it’s always a good time to drink Italian cocktails, the best time is during the Italian pre-dinner ritual known as aperitivo.

Where is the best place to drink Italian cocktails?

Italy is the best place to drink Italian cocktails but it’s also easy and fun to craft them at home.

About the Authors

About the Authors

Daryl & Mindi Hirsch

Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on the 2foodtrippers website and YouTube. The married Food and Travel content creators live in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Disclosures

Article Updates
We update our articles regularly. Some updates are major while others are minor link changes and spelling corrections. Let us know if you see anything that needs to be updated in this article.

Funding
We purchased the ingredients and tools used to craft these cocktails.

Original Publication Date: March 25, 2023