With several cocktails now competing for our summer attention, leave it to Zach Zoschke to throw another into the mix from his YouTube channel. Of course, Zach speaks our language and shares a love of Aperol. This time of year we don’t take much convincing to mix up a Spritz, but he makes a good point about sometimes not wanting to commit a whole bottle of bubbly to the cause—not so much for using the bubbly, but for the effect it has on your afternoon. It’s one of the reasons why we like to have little single-serve Prosecco bottles at the ready, but this cocktail is another great way to cool off with a delicious amaro.

You should hardly feel guilty drinking the Guilty Pleasure since it’s downright delicious. We suppose among cocktail geeks, excitement about Aperol can seem a little overplayed which maybe accounts for this drink’s name, but the unique smash-style construction of this recipe should have you wondering why you don’t muddle limes more often.

Guilty Pleasure by Dominic Venegas
2 oz Aperol
.5 oz simple syrup
4 lime wedges (half lime, muddled)

Cut a large lime in half from tip to tip, then make parallel wedges and toss half of them into your shaker. Muddle thoroughly, squeezing out the juice and expressing the lime oils from the peels. Add the simple syrup and Aperol. Dry-shake (without ice) to mix, then dump everything into a rocks glass. Completely fill the glass with crushed ice and serve.

You could garnish with another lime wedge, but we decided to save our wedge for another one of these cocktails! Besides, there’s already some smashed limes in the glass which is a nice look. If you find your limes are a bit small, use an additional wedge. The juice acidity is balanced by the simple syrup and the Aperol which is just bitter enough to add some contrast to the sweet and sour notes.

Zach says this drink was created by New York’s Dominic Venegas. The construction is a lot like the Caipirinha, and you’ll definitely sense that kick of lime oil which is exactly the point here. Who knew Aperol and intense lime flavors go so well together? If you like this drink, we find it reminiscent of the Take 3, so you may want to check that one out too!