Aperitivo — why Italians start the evening differently
Between six and eight, something happens in Italy that is hard to translate. The aperitivo is not pre-drinks, not an after-work beer and not dinner. It's the hour in between, and it has its own rules.
What defines it
You order a drink, and food arrives at the table without you having ordered it — olives, crisps, focaccia, in Milan sometimes an entire buffet. You pay for the drink. The food comes with it.
The point is not to get full. The point is to prepare the stomach for dinner, which doesn't come until half past eight or nine. That's why the classic aperitif is bitter: bitter compounds stimulate the appetite. That's not a marketing story, it's the reason the category has its name.
What people order
- Spritz — the classic, in countless regional variations
- Negroni — stronger, for people who like bitterness
- Vermouth neat, on ice — the calmest option, at home in Turin
- Crodino or Sanbittèr — alcohol-free and completely normal
Cin cin
The toast is cin cin. The expression doesn't come from Italian; it arrived from Chinese via port trade and stuck because it sounds like two glasses touching. You look each other in the eye while doing it. Anyone looking at their glass is doing it wrong.
The real lesson
The aperitivo is a date without obligation. You come when you come and leave when you leave. That's exactly why it works — there's nothing to organise.
Our Cin Cin T-shirt and the Vintage Cocktail T-shirt come from the same corner. The whole range is under Azur Club.