Aperol Spritz is one of those drinks that just feels like Italy — bright, bubbly, and unapologetically cheerful. But there’s a little story behind it that I love. The spritz originally comes from the Veneto region in northern Italy, where Venice shines the brightest. The word spritz  comes from the German spritzen , meaning “to splash.” Back during the Austrian occupation in the 1800s, Austrian soldiers thought Italian wine was too strong, so they started splashing it with wa