Goodbye Nightcap, Hello Aperitivo: The Day Drink That Took Over the Night

By the time the second vermouth spritz hits the table, the sun is still up. You’ve ordered a few olives. Maybe some potato chips. Maybe you haven’t even looked at a menu yet. But the day’s better now—lighter, hazier, looser. That’s the power of the aperitivo.

We keep hearing the same tired refrain: people are drinking less. But let’s call bullshit. People aren’t drinking less—they’re drinking different. The real shift isn’t sobriety; it’s sensibility. And one of the most telling signs? The quiet death of the nightcap and the meteoric rise of the before-dinner drink.

Aperitivo culture didn’t sneak in. It strolled—chin up, Campari in hand—and said, Let’s start the night right.

The Death of the Nightcap

For decades, we ended the night like bad decision-makers: an amaro too far, a bourbon too bold, a cocktail too close to midnight. Then we wondered why our weekends felt like slow-motion slogs.

But now we're starting earlier, finishing cleaner. The new drinking ritual isn’t about knocking yourself out with booze—it’s about warming up. It's social, seasonal, and most importantly, sustainable. Why burn out at 1 a.m. when you can glow at 6 p.m.?

From Hazy IPAs to Bright Spritzes

Let’s talk daytime drinking in America. For over a decade, the throne belonged to craft beer—IPAs thick enough to chew, ABVs that turned “just one” into a three-hour nap. But even the most loyal hop-heads are trading in their tulip glasses.

Craft beer sales dropped by 1% in volume in 2023 according to the Brewers Association. Meanwhile, spritzes tripled in year-over-year growth in the U.S. on-premise scene that same year (CGA by NielsenIQ). Why? Because nobody wants to be bloated and buzzed by 4 p.m. anymore.

Enter the Aperol Spritz. The Campari & Soda. The Hugo Spritz. The vermouth over ice with an olive and a twist. Light, photogenic, bittersweet, and clocking in at a breezy 10-16% ABV. These drinks aren’t just cocktails—they’re a lifestyle rebrand.

Between 2010 and 2022, Aperol sales in the U.S. went from 9,000 to 390,000 cases. In 2023, the Aperol Spritz cracked the top 10 most popular cocktails in the country. And it’s not just Aperol riding the wave—Prosecco imports to the U.S. outpaced the U.K. for the first time in 2022, with 11.4 million 9-liter cases. This isn’t a trend. It’s a takeover.

Why the Aperitivo Works

Aperitivos are designed to make you hungry, not drunk. Bitter liqueurs—vermouth, Campari, amaro—trigger a physiological reaction. Your body tastes the bitterness and assumes poison. Your stomach goes: Better eat something. And suddenly you're ordering tapas.

It’s science. It’s social. It’s survival.

Aperitivo hour, born in Turin and raised in Milan, has always been about that golden window between leaving work and sitting down to dinner. It's when friends link up. It's when you exhale. And now it’s landed stateside with force.

Spain’s Sleeper Hit: Vermouth on the Rocks

While Italy gets the credit, Spain has been quietly perfecting the art of early-evening drinking with vermut. And no, not the dusty, oxidized stuff in your uncle’s liquor cabinet. We’re talking small-batch, aromatized wine—served over ice, garnished with citrus or anchovy-stuffed olives, and poured in sun-drenched plazas from Madrid to Valencia.

In Spain, aperitivo culture has another name: tardeo or la hora del vermut. It’s what happens when you skip the siesta and go straight into spritz hour. According to IWSR, bitters and spirit aperitifs in Spain grew 8% annually between 2018 and 2023, and are still climbing. The shift is clear: less binge, more balance. Less blackout, more sobremesa.

Vermouth fits right in. It’s sessionable. It’s stylish. And unlike that mystery bottle of whiskey whispering at you from the back of your cabinet, it won’t derail your night—or your week.

From Trend to Ritual

Bars from Brooklyn to Barcelona are catching on. Happy hour isn’t about cheap wells anymore—it’s about spritz menus. It’s about discovery. A Seville Spritz here, a rosé Prosecco variation there, maybe even a frozen Negroni if someone’s feeling bold.

It’s fun. It’s beautiful. And it’s smart.

Because maybe we’re not drinking less out of guilt or shame. Maybe we’re just finally drinking better.

So pour the vermut. Slice the orange. Order the olives. And skip the nightcap (or don’t). Drink while the sun’s still up.