I rarely drink alcohol, but I make an exception for one particular cocktail

The search for optimum health means I’m not a regular drinker of alcohol. But there are two drinks I find hard to resist – a martini with a twist in a New York bar, and a Bellini in Venice.

Martinis can pack a punch and Bellinis provide a pleasant hit of dopamine. But it’s not about the alcohol content or even the taste of the drink.

In Venice, you’re automatically offered a Bellini or an Aperol Spritz when you sit down for a drink at a restaurant or bar. Both are specific to the city.

The spritz was created in the early 19th century for Austrian soldiers stationed in the Veneto region who liked a splash of water added to their wine.

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When Australians put ice cubes in their white wine, it’s a similar concept, as much as the French seem to deplore it.

I can’t stand the bitterness of Aperol, so my go-to summer evening cocktail in Venice is the Bellini. It feels like the most romantic drink in the world when you’re sitting on a rooftop terrace watching the sky turn apricot and pink.

Unfortunately, the tourist version of the Bellini is often an over-sweet, pink-hued concoction made of peach syrup and low-quality prosecco, not the fresh peach it requires.

You’d expect better in Venice, but most bars in well-trodden spots cater to the sweet palates of American tourists.

Most visitors don’t care or notice if the Bellini isn’t made with fresh peach.

But I think there’s something wrong if you’re served the same sickly drink they serve at hens’ parties back home.

On my last trip to Venice, I tried to figure out what the perfect Bellini might be. The starting point in this pilgrimage is Harry’s Bar, tucked away on a narrow street near St Mark’s Square.

It was opened in 1931 by bartender Giuseppe Cipriani, who went on to establish one of Venice’s finest hotels, The Cipriani, and invented the dish carpaccio along the way.

The cosy bar is a designated Italian National Monument, and is most famous for being the place where Ernest Hemingway liked to drink – and for the Bellini, which Cipriani invented in 1948, naming it for the Renaissance painter, Giovanni Bellini.