Day 42: Today's Pick — A Small Italian Aperitivo I Now Drink Daily

I drink, on average, two ounces of Cocchi Americano four nights a week. It is the most-consumed bottle in my house. I want to argue that it should be in everyone's house.

What it is

Cocchi Americano is an aromatized wine — wine fortified with grape spirit and infused with herbs, citrus, and quinine. It's Italian, made by the Cocchi family in Asti since 1891, and exists in a category called "Americano" or sometimes "quinquina" (referring to the cinchona bark/quinine flavor).

It tastes like: bright orange peel, a hint of vanilla, a meaningful but not aggressive bitterness, a clean grape-wine backbone, and a long lingering finish that's herbal and slightly floral.

How I drink it

Most often: 2oz Cocchi over a single big ice cube, with a curl of orange peel expressed over the top. That's it. Five seconds of effort, infinite reward.

Sometimes: 2oz Cocchi, 4oz dry sparkling wine, splash of soda, big orange peel. This is the Cocchi Spritz, and it's better than the Aperol version (controversial but true).

Occasionally: in a Vesper martini (Bond's drink — gin, vodka, Cocchi). One of the cocktail world's classics, and the original recipe specified Kina Lillet, which is essentially Cocchi's lost twin.

Why this category matters

Aperitivos in general — wines designed to be drunk before dinner to stimulate appetite — are a category that's underutilized in American drinking culture. They are:

• Lower-alcohol than spirits (typically 14–18% ABV)
• Bitter enough to actually cut through palate fatigue
• Designed to be drunk slowly over an hour, with snacks
• Cheaper per drink than wine or cocktails

A 750ml bottle of Cocchi gets you about 12 servings (2oz each) at $24. That's $2 per drink. The same flavor experience in a cocktail bar costs $14–18.

How to actually buy

Most well-stocked liquor stores carry Cocchi Americano now. About $22–28 for 750ml. If you can't find it, a few mail-order sites (Astor Wines, K&L) ship it.

Compare to: Lillet Blanc (lighter, less bitter — easier intro), Bonal (more bitter, more wintry), Cap Corse (more herbal, French Corsican alternative). All in the same category, all worth exploring once you find your starting point.

On home aperitivo

I have, over the past year, more or less stopped buying cocktails out and started doing aperitivo at home. The reasons:

• It's much cheaper
• It's faster (two ounces over ice = drink, ready in 30 seconds)
• The quality is, honestly, equal — most cocktail bars don't make Cocchi service better than I do at home
• I can stop after one drink without paying for ambiance

The shift required exactly one purchase: a bottle of Cocchi Americano and a single big-cube ice tray. Total investment: $32. Total annual savings vs. cocktail bar: hundreds. Total improvement to my Tuesday evenings: large.

Tomorrow: a Polish-Lithuanian dumpling I have been eating cold for breakfast.