{"id":17010,"date":"2021-03-12T09:54:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divino.wine\/?p=17010"},"modified":"2022-09-27T09:23:14","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T13:23:14","slug":"aperitivo-italian-happy-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divino.wine\/aperitivo-italian-happy-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"Aperitivo: Italian Happy Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
DiVino may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n We were thrilled to collaborate with Amex Essentials<\/a><\/strong> magazine’s Tastemakers series for this video<\/a><\/strong> all about the cherished tradition of the Italian aperitivo<\/em>. As any avid Italian traveler will tell you, the aperitivo is a right of passage, a quintessential stop on the way to dinner, and sometimes it can even be dinner itself. Read on to learn more about the origins of this beloved and delicious ritual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, it is a pre-dinner (and sometimes lunch) ritual of drinking a cocktail, alcoholic or non, accompanied by some light snacks, designed to stimulate the appetite. For travelers on a shoe-string budget, the abundant Aperitivo Milanese has become an industry secret for eating well on the cheap.<\/a><\/strong> Most of all, it is a ritual. A moment to sit down, relax, and invite the evening in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The word also refers to the a whole family of spirits (as well as non-alcoholic concoctions) that all share a common denominator: an infusion of herbs and an element of bitterness. Consider some of the world’s most iconic aperitivo brands: Campari<\/a><\/strong>, Aperol<\/a><\/strong>,<\/a> and Martini and Rossi<\/a><\/strong>. Each of them has a storied past that began well before the bar. While their recipes remain a tightly-guarded secret, they’re known to contain ingredients like bitter orange (chinotto, or citrus myrtifolia<\/em>), cascarilla bark, and rhubarb, all hailed for their curative and digestive properties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Long before we were guzzling Negronis over heaping plates of savory snacks, ancient cultures all over the world were curing upset stomachs and digestive disorders with roots, bark, and wild herbs. Back in the 400s BC, Hippocrates<\/a><\/strong>, a Greek doctor often referred to as the “father of medicine,” and perhaps best known for his namesake ethical oath to do no wrong, documented a cure made from wine, absinthe (artemisia absinthium<\/em>), fraxinella flower, and various roots as an appetite stimulant. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is the Aperitivo?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Aperitivo. Ap\u00e9ritif. Ap\u00e9ro.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Bitter History of the Pre-Dinner Cocktail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n