Whether you love a traditional spritz or tend towards a wilder libation, this August there are bubbly and sophisticated drinks to suit every taste
This summer, UK web searches for “Hugo spritz”, an elderflower-flavoured aperitif, overtook searches for “Aperol spritz” for the first time. As the spritz craze shows no sign of slowing down, pub chains are taking wild liberties, calling anything fizzy and served in a large glass over ice a spritz – and charging £10-plus for it. Echo Falls blue raspberry spritz? Pink gin spritz (Slug & Lettuce)? Raspberry vodka and honey spritz (Young’s)? Malibu cranberry spritz (Stonegate)? Mamma mia!
Traditionally, the spritz is an Italian cocktail made from prosecco, a bitter aperitif or liqueur, and a splash of soda water to keep things steady. While Venetian bartenders are more likely to judge it by eye, there is a simple 3-2-1 formula for making a spritz at home: three parts prosecco, two parts liqueur and one part soda water. I’ve gone with 75ml/50ml/25ml – keep the same ratios to make a smaller (60ml/40ml/20ml) or larger (90ml/60ml/30ml) drink. Of course, you can then adjust it to make it stronger or weaker (I have been known to leave out the soda …).
If wine-based cocktails aren’t to your taste, shandy is also showing signs of a resurgence – Ocado sales have increased 40% year on year, and the craft brand Shandy Shack is now stocked in M&S. Being half beer, half soft drink, it is another summery thirst-quencher that is easy to make at home and (in theory) shouldn’t get you too sloshed.
So, here are 20 simple spritzes and shandies. Save your Malibu for a piña colada.
All recipes make one drink. Pour the liquids into a large glass with ice, stir briefly and garnish.
Select spritzThe bittersweet aperitif Select (17.5% ABV) was created in Venice in 1920, and lo, the original spritz (AKA spritz Veneziano) was born. Select contains 30 herbs and botanicals, most noticeably rhubarb roots.
75ml prosecco
50ml Select
25ml soda water
Green olive, to garnish
Campari spritzMy personal favourite. Bitter Campari (25%) was invented near Milan in 1860 from a still-secret blend of herbs, spices and fruit peels; the spritz version came later.
75ml prosecco
50ml Campari
25ml soda water
Slice of orange, to garnish
Aperol spritzAll-conquering Aperol (11%) was created in Padua in 1919 from a mix of herbs, roots and fruits. It is sweeter and less alcoholic than most similar bittersweet liqueurs.
75ml prosecco
50ml Aperol
25ml soda water
Slice of orange, to garnish
Cynar spritzArtichoke-based, herbal Cynar (16.5%), also from Padua, was first made in 1952.
75ml prosecco
50ml Cynar
25ml soda water
Twist of lemon or grapefruit peel, to garnish
Vermouth spritzSweet red vermouth (15-18%), a fortified wine, emerged in Turin in the late 18th century; dry white vermouth appeared in Chambéry, France, a couple of decades later. Either can be used in a spritz, or mixed with tonic water.
