Caffo Mezzodì L'Aperitivo Italiano Liqueur 1000 ml

Mezzodì means "midday" in Italian — and the name tells you exactly when this aperitivo wants to be poured. Not the deep evening hour that calls for something darker and more serious. Midday: that bright, unhurried stretch of Italian afternoon when the sun is high, the lunch table has just been cleared or is about to be set, and a glass of something light, fragrant, and gently bitter is precisely what the moment requires. Caffo built this aperitivo specifically for that hour, and the label says as much — a handsome Italian waiter, rendered with genuine warmth and whimsy, offering an aperitivo on a tray, an image that Wine Enthusiast specifically singled out as "particularly fun."

The Caffo Company was founded in 1915 in Calabria, in the toe of the Italian boot — one of the country's oldest and most historically significant spirits producers, with a portfolio that spans amaro, liqueurs, and the celebrated Vecchio Amaro del Capo. Mezzodì sits at the lighter, fruitier, and considerably less bitter end of Caffo's aperitivo range, deliberately positioned in contrast to the company's more assertive Red Bitter. A combination of sweet citrus fruits, herbs, and spices, naturally colored with cochineal rather than any artificial dye, bottled at a gentle 15% ABV that makes it genuinely appropriate for the extended, unhurried drinking session that the Italian aperitivo hour is built around — and offered here in the generous 1-liter format that makes it equally well suited to home entertaining and hospitality programs.

Wine Enthusiast awarded 90 Points: "look for a deep poppy-red hue and grapefruit aroma in this liqueur. It's hard not to compare the lightly bitter flavor profile to the popular Campari, though this easy drinker is a little softer, lighter and sweeter, and has a light floral fade." The 2025 International Wine & Spirit Competition awarded a Silver Medal. Sweet orange cascades from the bottle along with aromas of cacao and gentian. On the palate: more orange, white tea, red berries, and honeysuckle with a hint of cinchona. Try it in a spritz, in contemporary classics like the Naked & Famous, or simply as the lighter, more approachable alternative to your favorite red bitter — at midday, on the terrace, with nowhere in particular to be.

Origins & Craftsmanship

The Caffo Company was founded in 1915 in Calabria, Italy — one of the oldest and most established spirits producers in Southern Italy, whose portfolio has grown across more than a century to include some of the country's most recognizable amari, liqueurs, and aperitivi, most notably Vecchio Amaro del Capo. Production of Mezzodì draws on Caffo's broader distilling operations, which include the historic Distilleria Friulia facility in Udine in Northern Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia region — reflecting the scale and the geographic reach of the modern Caffo company's production network.

Mezzodì is built specifically as the lighter, fruitier, and less bitter counterpart to Caffo's Red Bitter — a deliberate house decision to offer a more approachable entry point into the Italian bitter aperitivo category. The production combines sweet citrus fruits — including sweet orange as the most prominent component — with a blend of herbs and spices including gentian and cinchona for structural bitterness, balanced against the citrus and floral elements that define the lighter house style. The finished liqueur is naturally colored using cochineal, the traditional insect-derived natural red dye used across centuries of European food and beverage production, avoiding any artificial coloring agents. Bottled at 15% ABV — among the lowest in the entire Italian bitter aperitivo category, calibrated specifically for the extended midday and afternoon drinking occasions the name itself promises.

Critics Reviews

Wine Enthusiast — 90 Points (Jan 2016 tasting, confirmed):
"Look for a deep poppy-red hue and grapefruit aroma in this liqueur. It's hard not to compare the lightly bitter flavor profile to the popular Campari, though this easy drinker is a little softer, lighter and sweeter, and has a light floral fade. The label is particularly fun, featuring a handsome Italian waiter offering an aperitivo on a tray."

Silver Medal — 2025 International Wine & Spirit Competition

Caffo / Skurnik Wines & Spirits (US importer, confirmed):
"A lighter, fruitier, less bitter aperitivo than Caffo's Red Bitter, Mezzodì Aperitivo is a delightful and approachable herbal liqueur. A combination of sweet citrus fruits, herbs, and spices and naturally colored with cochineal, this lower proof aperitivo is soft and sweet, with just enough of a bitter bite to keep you on your toes. Sweet orange cascades from the bottle along with aromas of cacao and gentian. On the palate, expect more orange, white tea, red berries, and honeysuckle with a hint of cinchona."

Chips Liquor (confirmed):
"Contrasting with Caffo's Red Bitter, Mezzodì Aperitivo possesses a lighter, fruitier, and less bitter profile, making it a delightful and accessible choice. It harmonizes wonderfully in a spritz, works well in contemporary classic cocktails such as the Naked & Famous, and can even serve as a lighter alternative to your preferred red bitter aperitivo."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Deep poppy-red color — the cochineal natural coloring producing a vivid, eye-catching hue that immediately signals classic Italian bitter aperitivo territory. Sweet orange cascades from the bottle with immediate, generous citrus warmth — the most prominently and the most accessibly fruit-forward aromatic in the profile. Cacao adds an unexpected, gently bittersweet secondary note that distinguishes Mezzodì from simpler citrus-driven aperitivi. Gentian adds the structural bitterness that anchors the aperitivo identity. Grapefruit aroma adds further citrus complexity and brightness.

Palate
Soft and sweet, with just enough bitter bite to keep you on your toes — the house's own most accurate self-description. Orange carries the primary flavor forward with continued generosity. White tea adds a delicate, slightly tannic secondary note that is genuinely unusual in the category. Red berries add bright, juicy fruit complexity. Honeysuckle adds a delicate floral sweetness. A hint of cinchona — quinine bark — provides the classically bitter aperitivo backbone, present but gentle, softer and lighter than Campari's more assertive bitterness.

Finish
A light floral fade — Wine Enthusiast's own precise and memorable characterization of the close. Soft, sweet, and gently bitter, with the orange and honeysuckle lingering longest. Genuinely easy-drinking and built for repeated sipping across an extended midday or afternoon occasion.

Quick Overview

Cocktail Suggestions

Mezzodì Spritz (the signature serve)
2 oz Caffo Mezzodì · 3 oz Prosecco · 1 oz soda water · orange slice. Built over ice in a large Copa glass. The orange, honeysuckle, and gentle bitterness translate beautifully into a lighter, more floral spritz than the Aperol standard.

Naked & Famous
¾ oz Caffo Mezzodì · ¾ oz mezcal · ¾ oz yellow Chartreuse · ¾ oz fresh lime juice. The contemporary classic cocktail specifically recommended by both Skurnik and Chips Liquor — Mezzodì's lighter bitterness and white tea complexity adds a genuinely different dimension to this Last Word variation.

Light Negroni
1 oz Caffo Mezzodì · 1 oz gin · 1 oz sweet vermouth · expressed orange peel. A softer, more floral Negroni for guests who find the classic version too aggressively bitter.