16 Refreshing Italian Cocktails to Sip All Summer Long
These drinks are best served alfresco with water views.
The Italians are experts in many realms: hospitality, cuisine, wine. But they are also pros at creating refreshing, well-balanced cocktails, as well as some of our favorite ingredients that make them so special. Montenegro Amaro, Aperol, Campari, prosecco, and limoncello are just a few of the Italian essentials that have become mainstays on our own bar carts. From bitter and bubbly Negronis to sugary sweet Bellinis, some of the world’s most beloved cocktails were born in this beautiful country. From cult classics to soon-to-be modern favorites, here are 15 of our favorite Italian cocktails to sip on year-round. Saluti!
Aperol Spritz
This wildly popular drink can be pretty divisive, as most imbibers either love it or love to hate it. It's a bittersweet, bubbly beverage that is low in alcohol and high in enlivening a summer afternoon.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
Aperol
Prosecco
Club soda, served from syphon or chilled bottle
Orange slice, for garnish
Directions:
In a glass full of ice, combine prosecco and Aperol in equal parts. Add a splash of club soda and garnish with an orange slice.
Black Italian
This dreamy after-dinner cocktail utilizes a lesser-known amaro called Super Punch that's produced in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It's the perfect end to an Italian dinner party in lieu of dessert.
Ingredients:
2 ounces Super Punch
1 ounce fresh cream
1/2 ounce pistachio cream liqueur
Chopped pistachios, for garnish
Directions:
Pour Super Punch into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Float fresh cream and pistachio liqueur on top, stirring slowly. Top with chopped pistachios.
Courtesy of Italian Trade Agency.
Fiero & Tonic
While not quite as popular as Aperol or Campari, this low-ABV Italian spirit is growing in popularity thanks to its bold, citrusy flavor with hints of botanical bitterness. A great way to try out the liquor is by pairing it with tonic for a simple yet refreshing cocktail.
Ingredients:
1 part Martini & Rossi Fiero
1 part tonic water
Orange wheel, for garnish
Directions:
Pack a balloon glass with ice and pour in an equal portion of Martini & Rossi Fiero and tonic water. Stir gently and garnish with an orange wheel.
Amaro Sour
This simple yet satisfying beverage is easily customizable for any palate. Adding an egg white to the shaker will give the drink its signature frothy topping.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces Amaro Nardini
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 cherry, for garnish
Directions:
Combine first 3 ingredients in an iced-filled shaker. Shake well and pour into cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
Courtesy of Italian Trade Agency.
1919 Cocktail
This refreshing libation comes from Barbuto, the iconic West Village restaurant. The 1919 Cocktail was the first drink bartender Tyan Cray put on the menu in 2004, and it has remained a mainstay ever since.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces Cappelletti Aperitivo wine
2 ounces fresh grapefruit juice
4 to 5 ounces dry prosecco
Grapefruit peel, for garnish
Directions:
In a large wineglass filled with ice, mix the Cappelletti, grapefruit juice, and prosecco. Stir and express one large grapefruit peel over the glass. Garnish with the peel.
Ava Gardner
This delicate and feminine cocktail was created by Splendido Mare, a Belmond Hotel to honor Ava Gardner, who notoriously adored Champagne and all-things pink. Gardner stayed at the hotel while filming the 1954 film Barefoot Contessa with Humphrey Bogart.
Ingredients:
25 mL London dry gin
20 mL raspberry liquor
15 mL orange curaçao
15 mL fresh lemon juice
5 mL simple syrup
Dry sparkling wine
Directions:
Add first 5 ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, and top with sparkling wine.
Negroni
The Negroni is one of the world’s great cocktails, and we tapped Sant Ambroeus, one of our favorite Italian destinations when in New York, Southampton, or Palm Beach, for directions on how to make a perfect one.
Ingredients:
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce gin
1 ounce semisweet red vermouth
Orange peel, for garnish
Directions:
Stir together all ingredients with bar spoon in a cocktail shaker and strain the liquid into a rocks glass. Garnish with orange peel.
Italian Fizz
Served at Rome’s iconic Hotel Hassler, this is a truly Italian cocktail in both color and ingredients. Campari, soda, and lime represent the colors of the Italian flag.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
1 ⅓ ounces bitter Campari
2 ounces soda water
⅓ ounces sugar cane syrup
⅓ ounces fresh lime juice
Lime wedges and pink peppercorns, for garnish
Directions:
Combine first 5 ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake, and pour into a tall cocktail glass. Garnish with lime wedges and pink peppercorns.
Italian 75
We're loving this Italian take on one of our editors' favorite cocktails. Plus, Italian-made Portofino dry gin makes a stylish addition to your bar cart.
Ingredients:
1 ounce Portofino dry gin
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
Prosecco
Directions:
Add the first 3 ingredients to a cocktail shaker, fill with ice, and shake. Strain into a flute or saucer and top with prosecco.
Courtesy of Italian Trade Agency.
Duke and Duchess of Windsor
Diana, Princess of Wales, was said to have a penchant for bellinis, and Lido Restaurant & Champagne Bar at Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club in Miami pays homage to the beloved icon with this modernized take on the beverage.
Ingredients:
1 ounce fresh peach purée (about 1 peach, freshly blended)
2 dashes grapefruit bitters
4 ounces prosecco
2 ounces elderflower foam
Directions:
To make the foam: In an ISI cream siphon, add 3 1/4 ounces lemon juice, 17 ounces Saint Germain, 13 1/2 ounces water and 5 gelatin sheets. Mix everything together until the gelatin sheets are dissolved. Add 2 ISI cream chargers and then dispense foam when ready.
To make the cocktail: Mix the peach, grapefruit bitters, and prosecco in a cocktail shaker and stir gently and slowly, then pour into a coupe glass and finish with elderflower foam.
Sanguinello
Though this is an Italian classic, the Sanguinello is named after a sensational Spanish orange variety. This beverage is a great choice in early spring when you can find fresh blood oranges in season, but it's also excellent for summer where a bottled juice will do.
Ingredients:
1 ounce Pallini limoncello
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce blood orange juice
Ice cubes
Orange peel, for garnish
Directions:
Shake first 4 ingredients and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange peel.
Courtesy of Italian Trade Agency.
Paolo's Boutique
This beautiful libation was created by the bar team behind Via Mare at the Roman & Williams–designed Greydon House in Nantucket. It's the perfect drink to sip on a sunny patio in one of our favorite destinations.
Ingredients:
1.5 ounces Cocchi Americano Rosa
1 oz Braulio Alpine amaro
1 dash Bitterman's Burlesque Bitters
Prosecco
Orange twist, for garnish
Directions:
Combine first 3 ingredients in a highball or wine glass with ice and stir to chill. Top with prosecco and garnish with orange twist.
Pasquale's Punch
The addition of amaro brings an Italian twist to this rum punch created by Camille Wilson of the Cocktail Snob. It's the ultimate taste of summer.
Ingredients:
1 ounce pineapple juice
3/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
1/2 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce amaro
1 1/2 ounce dark rum
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Pour into a glass. Garnish with a pineapple frond.
Nightmare in Florence
This dramatic cocktail combines a few of our favorite ingredients: Fiero, gin, and cold-brew coffee. What's not to love?
Ingredients:
¾ ounce Martini & Rossi Fiero
¾ ounce Bombay Sapphire gin
¼ ounce Martini & Rossi Bitter liqueur
¾ ounce cold-brew coffee
Orange peel, for garnish
Directions:
Stir together first 4 ingredients, pour into a coupe glass, and garnish with an orange slice.
Amalfi Mule
If you don't like to deviate from what you know, this Amalfi Mule recipe adds a delightful twist to the classic Moscow Mule. Limoncello and lemon juice add a zesty, brighter replacement for gin and lime.
Ingredients:
2 strawberries
5 basil leaves
2 ounces Pallini limoncello
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
4 ounces ginger beer
Directions:
Muddle 1 strawberry and 4 basil leaves in a mixing glass, then shake together strawberry-basil mixture, limoncello, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker. Strain over fresh ice into a mule mug, top with ginger beer, and garnish with 1 strawberry and 1 basil leaf.
Courtesy of Italian Trade Agency.
Princess Diana's Favorite Bellini
Hotel Hassler has housed some of history's biggest names, from Picasso to the Kennedys and Justin Timberlake. Princess Diana also stayed at this hotel and confessed to Roberto E. Wirth, the Hassler’s proprietor and executive president, that this was her favorite Bellini of all time.
Ingredients:
Peach puree, recipe follows
Pinot Grigio Puillatti
2 raspberries (for puree)
Champagne
Directions:
Peel the peaches and keep only the outermost part of the peach, as it's the sweetest part. Place the peach slices in a large stainless steel bowl with Pinot Grigio Puillatti and let them infuse for 3 days. Add two raspberries to the bowl as well as this will absorb the acidity.
After 3 days, remove the peaches and place them in an earthenware bowl and refrigerate for a few hours to chill. Remove peaches from the fridge and process in a blender until it becomes a puree. Combine 1/4 peach puree and 2/4 Champagne in a flute and serve.
Lauren Wicks is a Birmingham-based writer covering design trends, must-have products, travel inspiration, and entertaining. She’s obsessed with globally inspired textiles, hosting dinner parties, and French cocktails.
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