Is the Aperol Spritz a 'Bad' Cocktail? No, Says Everyone on Twitter

There comes a moment each year when the snow stops falling, the harsh winds seem to cease, once-frigid temperatures start to rise and the sun blesses us with its radiating presence for more hours of the day. Everything is more enjoyable, and why wouldn't it be? The seemingly never-ending months of winter have finally ended and the world feels like it may just get better. It's spring.

It's during this annual phenomenon—the changing of the seasons—when our taste buds also experience a new awakening of their own. No more do we want the mulled wine or straight-up Manhattan that warmed our cold bones during the winter. Suddenly it's the tastes of colorfully-hued cocktails concocted with impressively shaved ice cubes that everyone wants.

Enter the Aperol Spritz.

The intricately orange delight—notably made with the Italian liqueur Aperol, a long splash of bubbly and a little bit of soda water—is a springtime staple. There's likely not a rooftop venue in America where one won't find at least a few people clutching large wine glasses filled to the rim with the glistening cocktail on ice and garnished with an orange slice.

The Aperol Spritz is a refreshing go-to for those who are looking to cool down with something deliciously intoxicating but not-so-sweet. Not to mention, the spritz's orange color palette just screams "Good weather is finally here, let's sit outside and drink!"

They make great photos for Instagram, and the hashtag #AperolSpritz may very well be the first marker of the spring season for some folks.

Whether it's the notion of the fun times ahead that Aperol Spritz seems to bring or the thirst-quenching bitterness of the drink, people all over the map love them.

So it should come as no surprise that some spritz fans were completely outraged when The New York Times posted an opinion article bashing the cocktail as no good.

Simply titled, "The Aperol Spritz Is Not a Good Drink," writer Rebekah Peppler offered a pretty cold hot take that only seemed to fire up the Internet's temper.

While Peppler did note the effervescence and beauty of the Aperol Spritz were standout qualities, there wasn't much else she deemed enjoyable about the aperitif, which she compared to "something that drinks like a Capri Sun after soccer practice on a hot day. Not in a good way."

The biggest of Aperol Spritz's biggest flaws, according to Peppler, was the low-budget sparkling wine some bartenders used to create the cocktail. Folks on the Internet had an easy fix: Swap the poor tasting prosecco for something more appetizing.

Then there was the branding campaign that Peppler also took issue with. Campari America, the creator of Aperol, did an aggressive push for higher sales with a coast-to-coast campaign back in 2017, and that effort did bring a flood of Aperol in the States, which has led to overexposure and oversaturation.

But the numbers don't lie. Campari saw a 9.6 percent rise in sales between January and March this year after only seeing a 2.2 percent raise during the same timeframe in 2018, according to Reuters.

Those type of figures seems to fall in line with the biggest counter-argument many people had in response to the article: Just because you don't like it doesn't mean everyone else shouldn't.

See a few reactions to the Aperol Spritz takedown below.