The Venetian Spritz

When we visited Murano, Italy, we were told by one of the men at the factory that we couldn’t leave Venice without sampling the famous Venetian Spritz. Apparently, the drink originated with the Austrians, but the Venetians have morphed it into a drink that is truly their own.

There are 3 common variations that he told us about, each with a different aperitif. We chose to sample the “man’s drink”, the Spritz with Campari. It’s a very pretty drink, but a bit confusing at first, being garnished by both a slice of orange (mostly skin) and a large green olive! Hmmmm…

The first few sips were both bitter and sour, and I wasn’t sure that I liked it at all. But as our tongues adjusted, all of us started liking it more and more. We began to realize that every section of our tongue was getting involved. The sweet of the orange and the salt of the olive, together with the bitter and sour of the beverage made us totally sit up and take notice. In short, we ended up loving them!

As close as we can figure, this is how it was made:

Spritz with Campari

2 parts dry white wine
1 part Campari aperitif (or substitute other aperitif)
Splash of mineral water (either fizzy or naturale)
Slice of orange
Large green olive on a toothpick