The Spritz began as a practical fix: Austrian soldiers stationed in the Veneto in the 1800s found local wine too strong and lightened it with a splash of water. Two centuries later, that improvised drink has become the orange-hued centerpiece of Italian aperitivo hour, built on a simple 3-2-1 ratio of Prosecco, bitter liqueur, and soda. The catch is that "Spritz" means different things in different glasses: order one in Venice without specifying and you'll likely be served Select, the bitter liqueur created there in 1920, while the world beyond Italy mostly knows the sweeter Aperol version popularized in the 1950s.

The Spritz: A Journey from Austrian 'Spritzen' to Italian Icon

The story starts under Habsburg domination, when the Veneto fell within the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia. Foreign soldiers, accustomed to beer-strength drinking, found the local wine too strong and added a splash — a "spritz" — of still water to bring it closer to the alcohol content they were used to. What began as dilution became a habit, and the habit became a drink.

Over time, the recipe drifted upward in both flavor and festivity. Still water gave way to sparkling soda, and sparkling soda eventually gave way to Prosecco. Fortified wines entered the mix, and finally the bitter liqueurs — Aperol, Campari, Select, Cynar — that define the modern drink. In the Veneto today, the base is often still a local white wine: Pinot Grigio, Soave, or Prosecco, depending on the bar and the drinker.

Evolution of the Spritz: Key Milestones and Bitter Beginnings

The transformation from watered wine to cocktail happened in deliberate steps, and the timeline is worth knowing because it explains why three different drinks all answer to the same name.

  1. 1800s: Austrian soldiers in the Habsburg-controlled Veneto dilute local wine with still water to reduce its strength.
  2. Early 20th century: A splash of bittersweet liqueur enters the mix, creating a more complex drink, as the Venetian institution Caffè Florian's history recounts.
  3. 1920: Select, a bitter liqueur from Venice, is introduced — a significant evolution in the Spritz's recipe and the foundation of what many consider the most authentic Venetian version.
  4. 1950s: The Aperol Spritz, a recipe created by the brothers who owned Aperol, arrives as a lighter, sweeter alternative to Select and becomes a staple of Italian aperitivo hour.
  5. 2010s: The Spritz spreads widely outside Italy, with the Aperol Spritz ranked the world's ninth bestselling cocktail in 2019 by Drinks International.

The scale of the habit at home is remarkable: according to Gruppo Campari, roughly 300,000 Spritzes are consumed every day in the Veneto — more than 200 per minute.