The Americano cocktail is a refreshing blend of Campari, sweet vermouth, and club soda garnished with an orange slice. This one is light, effervescent, perfectly bitter, and pairs well with summer evenings and dinner with friends!
The Americano cocktail may be the perfect aperitivo for summer.
While similar in flavor to the Negroni, the Americano is lighter and less boozy thanks to the substitution of fizzy club soda for gin.
It’s easy to sip like a spritz, and the sweet vermouth provides greater depth, rounding out its perfect flavor.
The Americano is great alongside snacks, like taralli, zucchini bruschetta, and mozzarella en carrozzza.
Americano ingredients
- Campari. Campari is a bitter Italian aperitivo that hails from Milan. It’s flavor is distinct, and more bitter than Aperol which can be substituted if you prefer a sweeter drink. A red amaro could also be substituted.
- Sweet vermouth. Sweet vermouth is used in a multitude of cocktails, including the Manhattan, and Negroni. It provides a necessary sweetness that helps to balance the bitterness in the Campari.
- Club soda. We recommend using an unflavored club soda for the Americano, however, you could use an orange-flavored seltzer in a pinch.
- Garnish. Orange slices or orange twists are the traditional garnish for the Americano, however, an Amarena cherry would also be great here. For additional color, use a slice of blood orange!
How to make it
- Fill a highball glass with ice and add 1 1/2 ounces of Campari, and 1 1/2 ounces of sweet vermouth.
- Give the ingredients a stir, then fill to the top with club soda and stir again.
- Garnish with a slice of orange, or an orange twist, and serve immediately. Enjoy!
More refreshing cocktails
If you’re looking for refreshing cocktails that are easy to make, we think you’ll love these!
- Aperol Spritz – club soda, prosecco, and Aperol.
- Long Island Iced Tea – blend of 5 spirits, fresh lemon juice, and cola.
- Italian Margarita – Campari, orange liqueur, tequila, and fresh orange juice.
- Lillet Spritz – prosecco, Lillet Blanc, and club soda.
- Limoncello Spritz – prosecco, limoncello, and club soda.
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Americano Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces Campari
- 1 1/2 ounces sweet vermouth
- soda to fill glass
- 1 twist orange or slice of orange
Instructions
- Fill a tall glass with ice and add the Campari and sweet vermouth.
- Top with soda then stir to combine.
- Serve with an orange twist or a large slice. Enjoy!
Notes
- The Americano is traditionally served in a highball glass but any tall glass will do.
- Garnish with blood orange and/or Amarena cherry for additional color.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello Jim love all Your recipes…Brings me back to childhood…
Also love Your special summer drinks…
You make it all look easy…
Have You been on vacation as haven’t seen any recipes come on email
Or Facebook??? If so hope You and Your beautiful Family had a fun and
restful time…
Have a good day…
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne, thank you for the comment and so happy you’re enjoying the recipes! We’ve been posting recipes to Facebook every day and emails have been going out (we put out an email every Tuesday and sometimes more than that depending on holidays, season, etc). Sometimes Facebook doesn’t show posts for some reason so you can just go to our FB page and like a few posts. That should help the algorithim and will start showing you our recipes again.
When you say soda, do you mean seltzer or some kind of soda, like ginger or cola?
Hi Patricia, unflavored seltzer, club soda, or sparkling water. Hope that helps!