Aperitif & Digestif: Just Like a Perfectly Balanced Drink, Cambria Quartz Surfaces Balance Durability and Style

Beyond mere tradition—enjoying aperitifs and digestifs is ritual, offering rhythm and grace to your at-home or dining out experience. 

Aperitifs are dry and light spirits designed to open the palate and include vermouth, dry sherry, Lillet, and bitter liqueurs like Aperol or Campari. They’re meant to be sipped neat or on the rocks before dinner, or in cocktails like Negroni or a Winter Sour with hints of fresh citrus and honey syrup. After dinner, turn to digestifs, richer spirits suited to easing digestion. Think amaro, cognac, port, or aged brandy. For cocktail varieties, try replacing amaro for sweet vermouth in a Manhattan. Or sip a bit of fizz with an Amaro Spritz made with a splash of lime soda. 

Fire & Ice 

Turning Up the Heat

Flaming drinks captivate our senses and spark excitement. Bartenders who ignite cocktails create visual drama that transforms ordinary moments into celebrations. Fire also adds an element of anticipation, making the experience feel special and interactive. Beyond aesthetics, heat or smoke can subtly alter drink flavors and aromas. You could try an at-home cocktail smoker kit to create smoky visual effects and enhanced cocktail flavors. But ultimately, those flaming libations mostly appeal to our love of spectacle, surprise, and the thrill of something a little daring.

Part alchemy, part artistry, each measured pour sets the tone for our most memorable drinks and moments.

Boulevardier

Adapted from passthesushi.com
Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• 2 oz. bourbon 
• 1 oz. Campari 
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth 
• Dehydrated orange slice (garnish)

Directions
Add ice to a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Add the bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth into the mixing glass and stir until chilled. Add a large ice cube to a rocks glass and strain the cocktail over the ice. Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice. 

Grapefruit Champagne Negroni Sour

Adapted from alittlespoon.com
Makes 1 drink

Ingredients
For Champagne Syrup:

• ½ c. champagne 
• ¼ c. refined granulated sugar

For Grapefruit Negroni Sour:

• 1 oz. grapefruit juice, fresh squeezed 
• ½ oz. egg white or vegan foam alternative 
• ½ oz. champagne syrup 
• ½ oz. Cocchi Americano Bianco 
• 1 oz. Campari 
• 1 oz. gin 
• 2–3 dashes grapefruit bitters, optional 

Directions
For Champagne Syrup:
Add the champagne to a small saucepan over medium heat until it has reduced by half. Pour in the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Once you can no longer see any sugar granules, remove the syrup from the heat and let it cool at room temperature or in your refrigerator. 

For Grapefruit Negroni Sour:
Place a coupe or rocks glass in the freezer 15–30 minutes before making the cocktail. Clean the skin of a grapefruit and use a y–peeler or cheese peeler to create a roughly 1 inch x 3 inch long strip of grapefruit peel. Create a slit down the center of the peel leaving roughly ½ inch of clearance at the top and bottom. Set your garnish aside.

Cut and juice the grapefruit and strain its contents into a separate container for the cocktail. Crack the egg and separate the yolk from the white. Whisk the egg white to loosen up the protein structure a bit and set it aside.

Measure out and add all the listed cocktail ingredients to a shaker. Cover and shake for 15 seconds without ice (dry shake). Top with ice, close the shaker, and vigorously shake everything for about 30 seconds. Double strain the cocktail through a fine mesh strainer into a coupe glass. Express the grapefruit peel over the drink by holding the top and bottom of the peel horizontally and facing out. Squeeze down to release the oils. Rub the outside of the peel against the rim of the glass. Twist the peel after it’s expressed and slide it onto the rim of the glass using the slit in the center. 

Editor’s tip: The champagne syrup makes enough for 8 cocktails and lasts up to 3 weeks when stored in the refrigerator. 

Yellow Negroni

Adapted from diffordsguide.com
Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• ¾ oz. BarSol Mosto Verde Italia Pisco 
• ¾ oz. limoncello liqueur 
• ¾ oz. gentian liqueur 
• ¾ oz. yellow chartreuse 
• ¾ oz. Strucchi Bianco Vermouth 

Directions
Select and pre-chill an old-fashioned glass. Prepare garnish or lemon zest twist. Pour all ingredients into the chilled glass. Fill the glass with ice and briefly stir. Express lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Apple Pie Manhattan

Adapted from gourmetglow.co.uk
Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• 1⅓ oz. scotch 
• ½ oz. sweet vermouth 
• ½ oz. apple juice 
• ⅓ oz. maple syrup 
• 2 dash orange bitters 
• Dehydrated apple slice (garnish) 

Directions
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with three ice cubes and stir for 30 seconds to combine. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a chilled glass. Garnish with a slice of dehydrated apple. 

Yuzu Amaro Spritz

Adapted from foodandwine.com
Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• ½ oz. lime juice 
• ¼ oz. honey syrup
• ½ oz. dry vermouth 
• 1 oz. Amaro Nonino 
• 1 bottom Fever Tree yuzu lime soda 
• 1 sprig rosemary 
• 1 lemon wheel (garnish)

Directions
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add lime juice, honey syrup, dry vermouth, rosemary sprig, and Amaro Nonino. Shake vigorously for about 15 seconds.

Winter Sour Cocktail

Adapted from liquor.com
Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• Leaves from 1 small rosemary sprig 
• 1½ oz. clover honey syrup 
• 1 oz. Campari 
• 1½ oz. Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed 
• 1 oz. egg white 
• Rosemary sprig (garnish)

Directions
Add the rosemary leaves and honey syrup into a shaker and muddle gently. Add the Campari, Meyer lemon juice, and egg white and vigorously dry-shake (without ice) for 15 seconds. Add ice and shake again until well chilled. Double strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a small rosemary sprig.