This summer, the easy-to-make (and even simpler) spritz cocktail is rising in popularity, and for a good reason. Spritz cocktails, which are low in alcohol, refreshing, and easy to drink during the day, have quickly risen to the top as the MVP cocktail of choice during the hot weather. What’s not to love about these fizzy, refreshing, and fantastical little drinks?
Image Credits: Pexels
A spritz is typically made with extra dry Prosecco or sparkling wine, Ciroc watermelon, Soda water, and bitters—but for this round-up; I’ll just say that if it’s cheery soothing, and tastes unmistakably like summer, it counts.
Everyone is spritzing these days, creating refreshing variations on the classic recipe for fizzy drinks that take the shine off the summer heat.
Image Credits: Pixabay
- Spritz Campante
This cocktail was inspired by both the Paloma from Mexico and the vintage spritz from Italy. Mezcal and grapefruit are a perfect match. The lemon leaf in this drink can be replaced with other citrus leaves, which enhances a fresh, herbal aroma to round out the cocktail.Ingredients:
- 1 oz. Mezcal Campante
- 1 oz. Aperol
- 0.33 oz. agave syrup
- 1 oz. fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice
- 3 oz. club soda
- 1 lemon leaf
Key Points:
- In a wine glass, combine all the ingredients excluding the club soda. Pour ice into the glass and quickly stir to combine.
- Top with soda and garnish with the lemon leaf, pressing the leaf through into the soda to mix and slightly breaking the skin to express the oils.
Image Credits: Pixabay
- Choose Spritz.
Select Aperitivo, created in Venice in 1920 by brothers from Bologna, is a complex aperitif infused with herbal extracts such as juniper and rhubarb root. Its ruby-red color and intimations of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and grapefruit render it a fantastic addition to a mezcal negroni, but we prefer a classic Venetian spritz.
Ingredients:
- 3 ounces prosecco
- 2 oz. Choose Aperitivo.
- Splash with soda
- For garnish, a green olive
Key Points:
- Fill a stemmed wine glass halfway with ice.
- Pour Prosecco and soda over top, Select Aperitivo, and gently stir.
- 1 green olive for garnish
Image Credits: Pixabay
- Lectric Eye
Although Cappelletti Aperitivo resembles Campari (the popular Italian Aperitivo); the handcraft ruby-red alternative is soft, herbal, and wine-based. With it, you’ll get a balanced and bright cocktail, says Brent Karlicek, beverage director at Postino WineCafé, which has areas in Arizona, Colorado, and Texas.
Ingredients:
- Aperitivo Cappelletti 2 oz.
- 1 ounce Dolin Blanc Vermouth
- 0.75 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 oz. of soda water
- Garnish with an orange wedge
Key Points:
- In a lowball glass, combine Aperitivo, vermouth, and lime zest juice.
- Fill it up three-fourths full of ice. Stir in the soda water and garnish including an orange slice.
Image Credits: Pexels
- Loreto Spritz
The Loreto Spritz from St. Italian Kitchen and Bar in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, is a twist on a limoncello spritz that gets its luminance from citrus and peck from the ginger beer. Natalie Poette, the kitchen and bar’s creative director, implies blending this spritz with seafood or salads.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 ounces limoncello
- 0.5 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 ounces prosecco
- 1-ounce ginger beer
Key Points:
- Pour the ingredients directly into the martini glass, then gently stir.
- Just on the rim of the glass, place a slender lemon twist.
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- Vino del Primavera
Lacuesta Blanco Vermouth is an excellent aperitif on its own; simply add a slice of lemon. It’s a nice low option for springtime sipping when blended with fresh lemon and lime liquids and topped with sparkling rosé wine. It is less bitter than a traditional spritz and more evocative of a tangy white sangria. We recommend that drink as an Aperitivo at the start of a meal or as a buffet-style beverage.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz. Blanco Lacuesta Vermouth
- wedge of lime
- a wedge of lemon
- 3–4 ounces sparkling rosé
Key Points:
- Add the Lacuesta Blanco Vermouth to a glass, then squeeze in the juice of a large lime and lemon wedge.
- Top with ice and sparkling rosé.
Image Credits: Pexels
- Spritz with blueberries and mint
Summer berries and herbs are a dynamic duo for spritzes, and furthermore, the sugar from the fruit provides natural sweetness so you don’t have to rely on mixers. This recipe could also be made with other fruit and herb combos, such as raspberries and basil. I love cocktails with berries, especially these 10 iconic cocktails I tried in NY.
Ingredients:
- 7 ripe blueberries + extra for garnish
- 5 sprigs of mint
- 1-ounce vodka (for extra fruit flavors, you could use blueberry vodka)
- Prosecco splash
Key Points:
- In a shaker glass, muck berries, fresh mint, and vodka. Shake vigorously with ice.
- Pour into a wine glass filled with fresh ice.
- Season with a mint season and berries and top with prosecco.
Image Credits: Pexels
- Rose-Mary By Any Other Name
Singani and Aperol are just a perfect match. The delicate floral notes from the Bolivian Muscat grapes meld so well with the orange notes of Aperol. Creating the rosemary simple syrup is incredibly crucial; it adds sweetness and intensifies the floral notes.
Ingredients:
- Singani 63 1 oz.
- 0.25 oz rosemary syrup 1 oz Aperol
- Prosecco 2 oz
- 1 oz. of soda water
- Garnish with a rosemary tuft and thin orange slices if desired.
Key Points:
- To make rosemary simple syrup, bring a water cup, 1 cup of sugar, and 14 cups of rosemary leaves to a boil in a saucepan.
- Allow steeping for 1 min after the sugar has dissolved into a syrup. Detach from heat and set aside for 20 minutes to steep.
- Compress the rosemary leaves and bottle the simple syrup.
- In a wine glass, mix the Singani 63, Aperol, and rosemary simple syrup. Stir in the ice.
- Add soda and prosecco to taste.
- Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and thin orange slices.
Image Credits: Pexels
- Brusco Spritz
A simple twist on the classic Aperol spritz. Aperol’s main taste and aroma is rhubarb, and the same is true for Lambrusco Di Sorbara, which tends to make for a natural dynamic duo in the cocktail.
Ingredients:
- 1 oz Aperol
- 3 oz Lambrusco Di Sorbara
- Orange wheel for garnish
Key Points:
- In a wine glass, combine Aperol and Lambrusco De Sorbara.
- Add ice and stir.
- Garnish with the orange wheel.
