Ceraldi Caffè / Aspritz
Created by Ceraldi · Piazza Carità, Naples
The flavours of Campania, in our idea of aperitivo.
Amalfi Coast citrus, herbs and roots in an infusion we make ourselves, finished with sparkling Asprinio di Aversa. An aperitivo born in Piazza Carità to tell the story of Campania in a glass.
Where to try it
The idea
Ceraldi opened in 1973 as a Neapolitan café, and ever since it has worked within a clear tradition: coffee at the counter, pastries made in our own kitchens, produce from Campania. When we thought about the aperitivo, we asked the same question we ask about a pastry: how would Naples tell it?
The spritz is a formula known everywhere: a bittersweet base, a sparkling wine, ice, a touch of citrus. We did not want to copy it. We wanted to keep its structure and change its voice, choosing ingredients from places a few dozen kilometres from our counter.
That is how the Aspritz was born: an aromatic base of our own making, an infusion of Amalfi Coast citrus, herbs and roots, finished with sparkling Asprinio di Aversa, the white wine of the plain north of Naples. You can hear both halves in the name: Asprinio and spritz.
The ingredients
Only a few elements give the Aspritz its character, and each one carries a piece of Campania.
The base
The base of the Aspritz is an aperitivo of our own making, an infusion of herbs and roots together with citrus. It gives depth: the aromatic, gently bitter note that balances the sweetness and freshness of the other elements. Which herbs and which roots remains a house recipe.
Herbs and roots in the aperitivo (in Italian)The scent · Amalfi Coast
The citrus comes from the Amalfi Coast, a landscape of terraces and dry-stone walls overlooking the Gulf of Salerno, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. In the Aspritz it brings the scent; in the glass it returns as a dried orange slice.
Amalfi Coast citrus (in Italian)
The bubbles · Aversa countryside
The white wine of the Aversa countryside, between the provinces of Caserta and Naples, protected by the «Aversa» DOC since 1993. Its vines also grow in the alberata aversana, trained up poplars several metres high and harvested from long ladders. A wine with lively acidity that brings bubbles and freshness to the Aspritz.
Asprinio di Aversa (in Italian)Its character
Created by Ceraldi
The Aspritz is not a bought product poured into a glass: it is our own recipe, made to sit alongside our pastries and our coffee, with the same idea behind it: start from Campania.
The aromatic base is our own production, like the pastries in our display case. Making it ourselves lets us choose where the ingredients come from.
When we serve it, we finish it with sparkling Asprinio di Aversa, ice and a dried orange slice.
«Artigiani per passione», craftspeople by passion, our motto since 1973, holds true in the evening too.
In Naples
Visitors to Naples often look for a way to taste the city, not just see it. Coffee at the counter, sfogliatella, babà: Neapolitan food culture is made of everyday rituals. With the Aspritz we wanted to bring the same idea to aperitivo time, using ingredients and references from Campania.
It is not an old recipe and does not pretend to be: it is a contemporary creation, our own. But it rests on a much older culture, like that of Asprinio, a wine documented as early as the sixteenth century and long at home in the taverns of Naples.
At Ceraldi you can have your aperitivo at the counter or in the hall, among the mirrors and red armchairs, on Via Toledo, a few steps from the Pignasecca market and the Spanish Quarter. Until 8:30 pm, every day.
Gallery
The world of Aspritz
Discover it at Ceraldi Caffè, Piazza Carità 14, in the centre of Naples. Every day until 8:30 pm.