Aperol is delicious. I can drink the stuff on ice, mixed with a little lime, or in  just about any other recipe. It’s not as bitter as Campari and not as syrupy as Averna. It’s a little bitter, and a little light, so it’s just about perfect. And you can mix it with anything, as the Aperol Fairy cocktail attests.

To make the Aperol Fairy, combine with ice:

• 1 oz Aperol
• 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz Sprite

strain into a chilled coupe, and garnish with a thin lemon slice. The recipe is simple, uses ingredients most of us have on hand, and will please just about every palette. It’s low on the alcohol scale, so it qualifies as a shim, too, I guess. By the way, if you’re interested in shims, be sure to check out Dinah Sanders’s new book The Art of the Shim.