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Americano Cocktail

The sophisticated Americano cocktail is a lazy mixologist’s dream come true. Learn how to craft the classic Italian cocktail in five minutes or less.

Americano Cocktail on Ledge
Image: ©2foodtrippers

We hesitated to craft an Americano at home thinking that is was simply a lesser version of the Negroni. After all, an Americano is basically a Negroni without gin. As it turns out, we were right about the Americano cocktail recipe but wrong with our expectations.

We quickly realized that an Americano is delightfully easy to drink even though it has fewer calories and less alcohol compared to a Negroni. Equally rich in color and featuring two Italian liquors, both Campari cocktails taste like Italy in a glass. However, without the gin, sweet and bitter liquors cohesively mingle in the glass before dancing in the mouth.

In other words, the Americano is an ideal summer sipper that’s sophisticated enough to drink all year long.

Discover more of our favorite Italian cocktails.

What Is An Americano Cocktail?

Americano Cocktail in front of Green Tiles
The Americano is easy to craft and drink. We crafted this tasty cocktail at home in just five minutes. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

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 which has inspired a myriad of aperitivos…

History Of The Americano

Americano Cocktail in Lisbon
We channeled Italian history when we drank this Americano cocktail at our home in Portugal. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

You’re surely familiar with the Americano cocktail if you’re a movie buff or an Ian Fleming fan. It’s the very first drink that James Bond drinks in Casino Royale and it also appears in From Russia with Love and A View to a Kill. But did you know that the Americano cocktail history predates Fleming’s series 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 Punt e Mes vermouth from Turin.

Americano Cocktail Next to Brown Tiles
We recommend drinking Caffè Americanos in the morning and Americano cocktails in the afternoon and evening. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

The soda water version eventually donned the name Americano when it became popular with American ex-pats and travelers in Italy. Although mixologists later added gin to create the Negroni in the 20th century, the Campari Americano lives on in both its Italian homeland and around the world.

Order the James Bond movie collection from Amazon if you want to watch the series for the first or fifth time.

Ingredients

Americano Cocktail Mise en Place
Crafting an Americano cocktail only requires four ingredients plus ice. Pictured here are sweet vermouth, Campari, sparkling water and an orange. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

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:

  • Campari
  • Sweet Vermouth
  • Club Soda
  • Ice Cubes
  • Orange Twist (garnish)
Bottles of Red Vermouth and Campari
We used Campari and Martini & Rossi sweet red vermouth to craft our Americano cocktail. Although both brands are based in Italy, they’re readily available at most liquor stores around the world. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Campari is a complex liqueur that derives its herbaceous tones from 50+ secret ingredients that include bitter herbs, aromatic plants and fruit. Not only is it a key ingredient in Italian cocktails, but it’s also great for making simple summer spritzes with soda or sparkling wine.

Discover our favorite Campari cocktails.

While you probably have Campari in your home bar, you’re even more likely to have a bottle of sweet red vermouth. Similar to Campari, this Italian liquor has a secret recipe and is highly versatile. We use it to craft Boulevardier, Manhattan and Negroni cocktails.

Discover our favorite sweet vermouth cocktails.

How To Craft An Americano Cocktail

Crafted Americano Cocktail with Jigger
Crafting an Americano is so easy that you’ll want to drink this cocktail at home again and again. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

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.

Americano Cocktail and Orange
Crafting an Americano at home is easy with the right tools. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

The first step is to peel 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.

Peeling an Orange
We always peel extra strips from our orange so that we have back-up twists in case one breaks. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

The next step is to measure the two liquors with a jigger.

Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade. That’s what we did.

Measuring Sweet Vermouth
Measuring the two liquors is literally the most difficult step in our Americano cocktail recipe. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

You’ll want to pour each liquor 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.

Pouring Campari
We pour the liquor directly into the glass. Not only does this approach make sense, but it also minimizes post-drinking cleanup. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Once you pour the two liquors, 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.

Mixing Americano Cocktail
Unlike other drinks imbibed by James Bond, the classic Americano is stirred and not shaken. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

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!

Pouring Soda Water into an Americano Cocktail
While we top our Americanos with Perrier, you can use your preferred club soda or sparkling water. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

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 Americano Cocktail with Orange Peel
Madonna expressed herself in a song. We express ourselves with orange peels and cocktails. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Expressing the orange peel like this releases pleasing orange scents and flavors into your Americano.

Alternatives

Americano Cocktail from Above
The Americano isn’t just a classic cocktail. It’s also a launching pad for several other cocktails. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Mastering our Americano recipe will only take you one try. This is not a cocktail with a learning curve! It’s super easy to craft even for the laziest of mixologists.

If you’re not so lazy and feel like experimenting, each of the following alternatives adds one ingredient to the Americano to create an entirely different drink:

Discover 10 essential bar tools for the home mixologist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was the Americano cocktail invented?

Despite its name, the Americano was invented in Milan, Italy.

What are the ingredients in an Americano?

Campari, Sweet Vermouth, Club Soda, Orange Peel and Ice

Is the Boulevardier shaken or stirred?

The Boulevardier is stirred, not shaken.

What type of glass is best for the Boulevardier?

We like to serve this cocktail in a lowball glass but you could use a highball glass instead.

Did you craft this cocktail? If so, please rate the recipe below.

Americano Cocktail in front of Green Tiles
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Americano Recipe

Deceptively sophisticated, the Americano is incredibly easy to craft at home with just a few ingredients and a spoon.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drink
Cuisine: Cocktail
Servings: 1
Calories: 184kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ ounces Campari
  • 1 ½ ounces sweet red vermouth
  • club soda or sparkling water
  • ice cubes
  • 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.

Pro Tips

  • Serve the Americano in a low ball or rocks glass.
  • As an option, shake the Americano and serve in a coupe or martini glass.
  • Use a 1:1 ratio if you modify the serving size.

Estimated Nutrition

Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 0.1g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 41mg | Sugar: 4g | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg
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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. Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers their unique taste of the world.

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 this cocktail.

Original Publication Date: March 24, 2021

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